Nairobi City Thunder defender Cheikh Mbacke aims during his team’s training at the Nyayo National Stadium on May 7.2025.
“We are going to win.”
That was the firm answer Nairobi City Thunder Basketball coach Brad Ibis said yesterday when asked about their chances in the Nile Conference qualifier for the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) that starts on May 17 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Thunder will take on hosts Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club (APR), Made By Ball Basketball (MBB) from South Africa and Al Ahli Tripoli of Libya.
Ibs said that they had done their homework well and have hired specific personal for specialized coaching and talent scouting.
“We are going to make a statement at Kigali owing to the intentions we have and the kind of preparations we have done,” said Ibs.
Al Ahli will open proceedings against MBB at 2.20pm before Thunder taking on APR at 5.30pm on May 17.
The teams will face each other twice with the top two advancing to the 2025 BAL play-offs and Final scheduled for June 1 to 14 at Sunbet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
Al Ittihad Alexandria from Egypt and Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club have qualified from Kalahari Conference with Tunisia’s Union Sportive Monastirienne and Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda from Angola making it from Sahara Conference.
Thunder City brought in coach Matthew Binder from the USA to assist in technical issues and US-based, Nigerian-born Akachi Okugo, to help in talent development and search.
Thunder also managed to retain American William Davis II, who is back from injury, USA-based Nigerian Uche Iroegbu besides signing Senegalese Cheikh Mbacke and Ghanaian Nana Appiah for the BAL contest.
Ibs predicted a good competition from well prepared teams.
“We have been interested and concerned about our opponents and even more so we want to be as good as we can be and match them well,” said Ibs.
“We have had nearly a month of great work day by day and built cohesion as we continue to grow. If you ask any of our guys, they wish they could play this weekend. We are at a point where we want to compete,” said Ibs.
Team captains Uche Iroegbu and Tylor Ongwae said they were itching to take to the courts as they make history as the first Kenyan team to qualify for BAL Conference championship.
“I know we are going to meet better teams but we are up to the task. Players, coaches and other team staff have done a good job,” said small forward Ongwae.
Iroegbu, the Nigerian international, who has played for Stockton Kings in the NBA G League, hopes that his experience as a point guard will help the team.
“We have great players that made good decisions even though I will make most of them,” said Iroegbu at the Nyayo National Stadium, the team’s training base.
“I have been to big games and that has helped me remain calm for good decisions.”
Twende Sports General Manager Kooshin “Kush” Diriye said the journey to BAL was difficult and hard but the fruits are sweet.
“It’s still a dream for me and most of these guys. I would have been sceptical 18 month ago that we would be where we are now when we took over the team. We have made it the first year and it’s amazing,” said Diriye.
Twende Sports are the sponsors of Nairobi City Thunder.
Nairobi City Thunder won the East Division Elite 16 final when they beat Kriol Star from Cape Verde 99-86 at the Moi International Sports Centre Indoor Arena to qualify for the Nile Conference in December last year.
