Basketball Ghana

Ghana basketball news, from the Sprite Ball to the players abroad

News and reports from Ghana's school courts, the national senior high school championship and the Ghanaian basketball players building careers in Europe, China and the United States, filed place first, then the story.

Paper collage of an outdoor school basketball court with a hoop, a shade tree and a row of classrooms
School courts are where every Ghana basketball team starts.
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Latest Ghana basketball news

Paper-tape knockout draw: eight strips narrow to one, ending in a pink ball

Accra —

No winner for the 2020 Sprite Ball after Ketabusco are stripped of the title

The 2020 Sprite Ball ends without a champion. Ketabusco, the side that had taken the title on court, have been stripped of it, and the national schools championship goes into the record with an empty line for the year. Days earlier the school had been due to meet the top hierarchy of the Ghana Education Service over the case. For the teams that came through the regional qualifiers, the ruling closes a season with no trophy lifted and leaves coaches and players asking what it means for the next edition.

Read the full report

Accra —

Ketabusco to meet the Ghana Education Service top hierarchy

Before the ruling, Keta Business Senior High School was called to a meeting with the leadership of the Ghana Education Service over its Sprite Ball title. The report sets out what was on the table for the school and its team.

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Sprite Ball: Ghana's senior high school championship

The Sprite Ball is Ghana's national basketball championship for senior high schools. Teams start out in regional qualifiers, and the schools that come through them meet at the national final. For many Ghanaian basketball players it is the first stage on which a crowd, a bracket and a title are all at stake at once, and the first place their names appear in print.

  1. School teamEach senior high school picks its squad and prepares on its own court.
  2. Regional qualifiersSchools play their region for a place at the national stage.
  3. National finalThe qualifiers meet to decide the champion of the year.

Upsets are part of the competition's pull. Bompeh SHS arrived in 2015 as a side few had tipped and left having silenced their doubters, while the 2020 edition showed that a title won on court can still be taken away afterwards. Both stories sit in the record beside the year they belong to, and each new edition of the Sprite Ball championship adds its own line.

03

Ghanaian basketball players abroad

Ghanaian basketball players are spread across leagues on several continents. Ben Bentil's moves have taken him to the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, to the Chinese Basketball Association and to Peristeri in Greece. Nathan Mensah played US college basketball in San Diego, Amida Brimah has returned to Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico, and the veteran Alhaji Mohammed spent part of his career in France with Limoges before retiring in 2021.

Ghanaian players abroad in recent stories
PlayerClub or teamCountryLatest story
Ben BentilPeristeriGreeceClub adds Flemmings to the roster (2019)
Ben BentilXinjiang GuanghuiChinaSigns for the CBA side (2016)
Nathan MensahSan Diego StateUnited StatesDiagnosed with blood clots (2020)
Amida BrimahMets de GuaynaboPuerto RicoReturns to see out the season (2022)
Alhaji MohammedLimogesFranceRetires from basketball (2021)

The ledger grows with every piece of news as players sign, move or come home. Each row links back to the reporting behind it, so a reader following one player can trace every stop from the first signing onward, and a reader following a Ghana basketball team abroad can see which Ghanaians are on its roster.

04

Basketball Africa League: the continental club stage

Africa made of punched paper tape, cities linked by thin strips, a pink dot on the Gulf of Guinea

The Basketball Africa League is the continental competition for Africa's leading clubs. Its scale became clear in 2020, when it was reported what its champion would take home.

$150,000to the league winner, as reported in October 2020

For Ghana basketball, the league sets the level against which the domestic game and its clubs are measured. Coverage follows the route into the competition, the Ghanaian players who appear on its rosters and what each season means for clubs at home. The prize figure also shows the distance between the continental stage and the domestic game. Reports on the league sit next to the Sprite Ball and the stories of players abroad: a reader can follow a career from a school court to the clubs that compete across Africa.

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School courts: Mfantsipim, Pope John and Presec Osu

School basketball in Ghana is built on school courts. The state of a court decides how often a team can train, whether it can host visitors and how far its players can develop before the Sprite Ball comes round. A new floor can change a school team's prospects for years, so court stories are filed with the same care as results.

  • Cape Coast —

    Mfantsipim

    The school's new basketball court gives its players a floor of their own. The facts about the court are set out in the full report.

  • Koforidua —

    Pope John SHS

    The school marked its 60th anniversary with a new basketball court, three months after its team had won the Eastern Region qualifiers on the way to the Sprite Ball.

  • Accra —

    Presec Osu

    The Osu school's team won the Sprite Ball male division in 2018 and has been a regular at the Greater Accra qualifiers since.

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Ghana basketball FAQ

What is the Sprite Ball?

The Sprite Ball is Ghana's national basketball championship for senior high schools. Schools enter through regional qualifiers, and the teams that come through meet at the national final, where the champion of the year is decided.

Why was there no Sprite Ball winner in 2020?

Ketabusco were stripped of the 2020 title, and no other school was declared champion in their place. The 2020 edition therefore stands in the record without a winner.

Which Ghanaian basketball players play abroad?

Recent stories follow Ben Bentil, who made his NBA debut with the Dallas Mavericks, signed for Xinjiang Guanghui in China and later played for Peristeri in Greece; Nathan Mensah at San Diego State; and Amida Brimah at Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico. Alhaji Mohammed, who played for Limoges in France, retired in 2021.

How much does the Basketball Africa League winner receive?

In October 2020 it was reported that the winner of the Basketball Africa League would pocket $150,000, the prize for the club that finishes the season as continental champion.

Which Ghanaian schools have new basketball courts?

Pope John SHS in Koforidua opened a new court on its 60th anniversary in 2018, and Mfantsipim in Cape Coast followed with a new court in 2020.

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