Basketballghana.com can confirm each team competing in the 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL) will have an NBA Academy-Africa player on its roster.
This was confirmed recently by the BAL in a move dubbed the BAL Elevate Project and players from the NBA’s Academy in Africa get the chance to compete in the continental championship via the teams they have been assigned to.
The NBA Academy in Africa was setup in 2017 and is based in Saly, Senegal 12 players have been assigned to the 12 competing teams in the BAL.
The 2022 BAL commences on Sunday, March 5 in Dakar, Senegal and ends on May 28 with games set to be also held in Egypt and Rwanda.
12 teams competing have been grouped into the Sahara Conference and Nile Conference with each conference containing six teams. The top four teams progress to the knockout stage where games are to be played out at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda.
Young players assigned to the various teams are from six African nations with Senegal having the most assigned players (4) with Nigeria having three. Below is a full list of the assigned players in the first ever BAL Elevate Program:
Sahara Conference
-AS Salé (Morocco): Nadir Bennis from Rabat, Morocco
· CFV (Mozambique): Reuben Abuchi Chinyelu from Enugu Agade, Anambra State, Nigeria
· DUC (Senegal): Babacar Sane from Bignona, Senegal
· REG (Rwanda): Joy Ighovodja from Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
· S.L.A.C (Guinea): Serigne Saliou Mbaye form Thies, Senegal
· US Monastir (Tunisia): Charles Loic Onana Awana from Yaounde, Cameroon
Nile Conference
· Cape Town Tigers (South Africa): Matar Diop from Dakar, Senegal
· Cobra Sport (South Sudan): Khaman Madit Maluach from Rumbek, South Sudan
· Espoir Fukash (Democratic Republic of the Congo): Emmanuel Eberechukwu Okorafor from Abia State, Nigeria
· F.A.P (Cameroon): Ulrich Kamka Chomche from Bafang, Cameroon
· Petro de Luanda (Angola): Thierry Serge Darlan from Bangui, Central African Republic
· Zamalek (Egypt): Khadim Rassoul Mboup from Dakar, Senegal
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
