The countdown to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Nile Conference tip off is now just hours away as teams get ready to rub shoulders in Cairo, Egypt from April 26 to May 6.
Six teams including Egypt’s Al Ahly, Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), BAL 2022 runners-up Petro de Luanda (Angola), City Oilers (Uganda), Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique) and SLAC (Guinea), will be fighting for the four remaining slots of the play offs that will take place in Kigali from May 21-27.
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In this article, Times Sport presents a brief profile of the six teams in the Nile Conference, and what they bring to the tournament.
Petro de Luanda (Angola)
Petro stormed to victory in the 2021/22 Angolan Basketball League, finishing the regular season with a 26-0 record and winning all of their playoff matches, including a 3-0 win over Interclube in the finals. They thus qualified automatically for the BAL.
They are making their third consecutive appearance in the BAL.
Petro finished third in the inaugural BAL season back in 2021, losing to eventual champions Zamalek in the semi-finals before beating Rwandan home side Patriots to clinch bronze.
They went one step further the following season last year, and reached the final where they suffered a heartbreaking defeat to US Monastir.
The Angolan giants are now coming with a bang and have added Ivorian Souleyman Diabate in their ranks as they push to finally clinch the championship.
Diabate is the only player to have won the last BAL editions, first with Zamalek and last year with US Monastir.
He is now eyeing a hat trick of the championship with Petro de Luanda.
Star man: Ater Majok
Winner of the BAL 2022 Dikembe Mutombo Defensive Player of the year award, Ater James Majok will be playing for Petro de Luanda, an Angolan side that has quite improved itself this season.
The 35-year-old South Sudanese is well known at the BAL, having played in the first two editions and put up great performances that inspired Tunisia’s US Monastir to the championship in 2022.
Al Ahly (Egypt)
Ahly dethroned Cairo rivals Zamalek as kings of Egypt in the 2021/22 Super League to automatically earn BAL qualification. They beat Al Ittihad 3-2 in the finals after Ittihad's 3-0 clean sweep of Zamalek in the semis.
Predominantly known as the most prestigious football club in Africa, the Ahly franchise is also up there when it comes to other sports, including basketball, handball and volleyball.
In continental basketball competitions, they won the African Basketball Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and 2000 and the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup in 2016. This, however, will be their first appearance at the BAL.
Star man: Walter Hodge
Walter Hodge – the man who led Zamalek to the title of the first BAL season in 2021 – is now back to the African club basketball stage with Al Ahly.
The Puerto Rican veteran point guard holds the 2021 BAL season Most Valuable Player (MVP) prize, which he won after he averaged 15.5 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.0 rebounds.
Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique)
As Elite 16 East Division runners-up. They missed out on the chance to defend their title, losing to hosts Cape Town Tigers in the final.
Ferroviário da Beira's history dates back to 1924, but the basketball section of the club has enjoyed its golden years over the last decade.
They won the Mozambique Division 1 in 2012, 2013 and 2014 before finally adding another title in 2021, earning their right to play in the BAL qualifiers, which they did with much success. At the tournament itself, they were eliminated at the first hurdle, but they retained their national title in 2022 and subsequently managed to qualify for the BAL again.
Star man: Will Perry
Perry is back with Mozambican side Ferroviário da Beira after an impressive month with Kigali Titans in January in the first round of the 2023 Rwandan Basketball league.
He brings vast experience garnered from clubs for which he has previously featured including Lenoir-Rhyne College in his native USA, as well as clubs in Portuguese and Spanish lower leagues.
He is a good shooter after the dribble, and a decent pick-and-roll player.
Cape Town Tigers (South Africa)
They are East Division winners of the Elite 16 qualifying tournament.
Founded in 2019 by an American ownership group, the Cape Town Tigers saw their plans halted by COVID-19. However, they rebuilt and won the 2021 national championship.
The Tigers subsequently used home advantage to become the first South African team to ever secure qualification for the BAL and surprised many by reaching the quarter-finals.
In 2022, they steamrolled to another national title in a more convincing fashion and won the East Division Elite 16 qualification tournament by beating Ferroviário da Beira - a club fast turning into one of their biggest rivals - in the final.
Star man: Evans Ganapamo
Last year in June, the Cape Town Tigers small forward Evans Ganapamo joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the NBA Summer League.
Ganapamo averaged 35 minutes per game during the second season of the BAL, averaging 16.2 PPG, but it was his work rate, and game-winner against Cameroon’s FAP in the final second to secure the Tigers’ first BAL win, that made him stand out.
His experience abilities make him one to watch at the Nile Conference.
City Oilers (Uganda)
The Ugandan champions beat Burundi's Urunani in the decisive playoff match to clinch third place in the Elite 16 East Division. This is the first time that a Ugandan team qualified for the BAL.
Star man: Germaine Roebuck Jr – City Oilers, Uganda
The American point guard is one of the players that Ugandan Champions City Oilers will be counting on during the BAL Nile Conference regular season.
The 25-year-old, who currently plies his trade at Rwanda’s Patriots, is strong and plays with pace. Though this is a debut season for him and his counterparts, he is primed to be one of the players that can shine in the Nile Conference.
SLAC (Guinea)
They made it through to the Nile Conference as West Division Elite 16 runners-up. A 69-61 win over Central African Republic side Bangui sealed their place, behind division winners SLAC and first runners-up ABC Fighters.
Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (SLAC) have dominated Guinean basketball since winning a first Ligue 1 title in 2015. They have since added further triumphs in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Before the BAL came into existence, they played their first FIBA Africa Basketball League tournament in 2018/19, losing all three matches against AS Salé, JS Kairouan and Rivers Hoopers. At last year's tournament, they made it to the quarter-finals.
Star man: Dane Miller Jr.
The American forward has good leadership skills, plays with passion and can do great on both sides of the court – scoring and defending.