Patriots Basketball Club has promoted Sunny Munyandamutsa Niyomugabo to Head Coach, succeeding Henry Mwinuka, to lead the team in the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) starting this Friday.
Munyandamutsa, 33, has been part of the Patriots since their inception in 2014, serving as the club’s first captain. According to the club’s statement, he exemplifies the values of the Patriots, making him the ideal candidate to transition from captain to assistant coach and now head coach.
PATRIOTS NATION: We have a new Head Coach. SUNNY NIYOMUGABO.🏀
Coach Sunny, has been a pivotal figure in Patriots Basketball Club since day one. As Head Coach, he brings Passion, commitment, discipline and vision to the team. Join us in welcoming him.👇#TuriPatriots pic.twitter.com/JYvpU3A35m
— Patriots Basketball Club (@PatriotsBBCrw) January 23, 2025
The new head coach has extensive experience in the RBL, having won the 2010–11 league title with KBC before moving to APR in 2012. After three seasons with APR, he joined the Patriots during their inaugural season in 2014, where his leadership earned him the captaincy.
In 2016, he joined IPRC South, leading them to a historic RBL playoff title—the last team outside Kigali to win either the league or playoffs. Munyandamutsa returned to the Patriots in 2017 as a player and took on coaching duties as a player-coach in 2019.
From 2018, Patriots BBC and Munyandamutsa won three consecutive league titles.
This promotion makes him the second local coach to lead the Patriots, after Cyrille Karima, who coached the team from 2014 to 2015 while Munyandamutsa was captain.
Munyandamutsa succeeds Henry Mwinuka, under whom the Patriots finished second in the RBL last season, behind APR, and fans expect him to reclaim the league title, which the Patriots last won in 2020.
Munyandamutsa has been actively preparing the team during the offseason, overseeing preseason training at Kimironko Sports and Community Space.
He will make his head coaching debut this Friday in the league opener against Azomco.
Here’s a list of all-time head coaches for Patriots BBC :
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- Cyrille Karima 🇷🇼 (2014-2015)
- Henry Mwinuka 🇹🇿 (2016-2019)
- Carey Odhiambo 🇰🇪 (2019-2020)
- Dean Murray 🇺🇸 (2020-2021)
- Bernard Oluoch 🇰🇪 (March 2021 – April 2021)
- Alan Major 🇺🇸 (April 2021 – May 2021)
- Ogolla Benson 🇰🇪 (2021-2022)
- Henry Mwinuka 🇹🇿 (2023-2024)
- Sunny Munyandamutsa 🇷🇼 (2025 – Present)
