Rivers Hoopers Head Coach, Ogoh Odaudu, has expressed confidence that his team is capable of improving upon last season’s performance in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 5.
The reigning Nigerian champions will kick off their campaign against Stade Malien in the Kalahari Conference opener in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday, April 5th.
Having spent two weeks in closed camping, the Hoopers arrived in Rabat on Wednesday, fully prepared for the challenge ahead.
Speaking on the team’s preparations, Coach Odaudu said, “Training has gone well so far. We’ve been working very hard for the past two weeks, and we’ve made tremendous progress.”
After making history as the first Nigerian team to secure a podium finish in the BAL last season with a third-place finish, Coach Odaudu stressed that the team’s immediate goal is to qualify for the playoffs in South Africa later this year.
“Every tournament is just like an examination; you want to do better than the previous year. We came third last year, but we do not want to jump far ahead of ourselves. Our goal right now is to qualify from Morocco to the finals in South Africa,” he added.
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While acknowledging the increased challenge from other teams, he also emphasized that the Hoopers’ name is now well-known across Africa.
“It’s really difficult, right from qualifying in Nigeria. Now, everybody knows our name in Africa, so it’s going to be twice as difficult as last season. But we’re just going to play our basketball and hopefully qualify for the playoffs,” said Odaudu.
Rivers Hoopers are the current NPBL champions. Photo Credit: Maester Edwards
As part of BAL requirements, Rivers Hoopers signed Maxi Shamba (Point Guard, Congo DR), Madut Akec (Forward, South Sudan), and Raphael Putney (Forward, USA) while retaining key players Kelvin Amayo and Peter Olisemeka from their Nigeria Premier Basketball League title-winning team last year.
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David Ugonna, a promising young player, has also been elevated to the main roster for BAL season five.
Despite missing key figures like Will Perry, Devine Eke, and John Wilkins from last season, Ogoh Odaudu is confident in the squad’s strength.
“It’s a different team this year; we have Maxi Shamba, Raphael Putney, and Madut Akec, who is an upgrade from last year. The whole team is equally important for what we hope to achieve,” he concluded.
