The Rwanda Basketball National team delegation leaves Kigali for the 2nd window of the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket Qualifiers on Friday, February 12, 2021. Destination; Monastir in Tunisia.
The team will be led by Henry Mwinuka as Acting head coach with 15 players from Kigali to be joined by Ibeh Prince Chibenye in Tunisia. Chibenye is set to play for Rwanda for the first time. He currently plays for the Plymouth Raiders in the British Basketball League. This 26-year-old man, 2.08 m and 110 kilos who can play as a forward or a centre will be added to the new guard, 23-year-old Ntore Habimana who studies and plays for Laurier University in Canada. The two players are new faces in the squad.
Rwanda is in Group D along with Nigeria, Mali and South Sudan. The games of Group A and E will also take place in Monastir, Tunisia from 17th-21st February 2021. The Rwandan team is leaving early as they expect to play two friendly matches against Tunisia and Egypt before playing the first competition game on February 17 against Mali.
In the first window games of Group D held in Kigali, Rwanda finished fourth, losing 3 matches which led to the departure of former head coach Vladimir Bosnjak. Henry Mwinuka had been appointed temporarily.
The delegation is set to depart from Kigali Airport with a charted plane donated by the government. This is the last stage of these Qualifiers and the top three teams in each group will earn a qualification, however, Rwanda has an automatic ticket as the host Nation.
The 16-man squad to Represent Rwanda in Tunisia:
Bugingo Hubert Kabare, Sagamba Sedar, Sano Gasana, Nshobozwabyosenumukiza J.J Wilson, Kami Kabange, Hagumintwari Steven, Ndizeye Ndayisaba Dieudonne, Gasana Kenneth, Ndoli Jean Paul, Niyonkuru Pascal, Ntwari Marius Tresor, Shyaka Olivier, Ibeh Prince Chibenye, Axel Mpoyo Olenga, Ntore Habimana and Kaje Elie.
Head Coach: Mwinuka Henry Dennis Newton
Assistant Coach: Nkusi Aime Karim
Team manager: Ntaganda Ernest
Technical Director: Mutokambali Moise
