PATRIOTS Basketball Club have confirmed that Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Gasana will be part of their squad at the upcoming qualifiers for the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The week-long preliminary qualifiers are due October 15-20 in the Tanzania’s coastal city. There’s a reunion incoming for our BAL East Division games as Gasana Kenny joins familiar faces he teamed up with at the National Basketball team games. Group D 1. PATRIOTS BBC 🇷🇼 2. CITY OILERS BBC 🇺🇬 3. JKT BBC 🇹🇿 4. HAWASSA BBC 🇪🇹 5. DYNAMO BBC 🇧🇮 6. BRAVE HEARTS BBC 🇲🇼 pic.twitter.com/xNAiMWDGq7 — Patriots BBC (@PatriotsBBC) October 9, 2019 Three-time Rwandan champions Patriots are Rwanda’s sole representatives in the continental competition following their successful league title defence last month. Gasana, 34, arrived in the country Tuesday night, and he is expected to join the team’s training this evening. Speaking to Times Sport on Wednesday, the club’s Vice President, Thierry Nzaramba, said that the deal with the American-born Rwanda international is to help Patriots during the BAL Qualifiers with a possibility of staying on for the 2019/2020 season. “We have agreed with him (Gasana) that he will be part of the team in BAL Qualifiers before we can think of discussing a contract for next season,” Nzaramba told this publication. In the qualifiers, Patriots have been placed in Group D along with Hawassa from Ethiopia, City Oilers from Uganda, JKT from Tanzania, Brave Hearts from Malawi and Dynamo of Burundi. “He is a good player – experienced and highly talented – that we would love to keep, but right now we are only focused on good performance in Dar es Salaam.” The star shooting guard joins Patriots at a time when he has been largely linked with a move to Rwanda Energy Group over the last two months. Featuring for the national team since 2009, Gasana is currently a free agent after finishing his contract with Moroccan side Tanger in July. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
