Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations – FUBA has named a strong 18-man Uganda provisional squad for the upcoming FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers that will be played from November 27-29 in Alexandria, Egypt.
Uganda assistant coach Mandy Juruni will take charge of the training sessions starting October 6 at the Lugogo Indoor Arena in Kampala with the help of coaches Brian Wathum and Andrew Tendo.
These sessions will engage the 12 home-based players with the ones who ply their trade outside the country expected to join the rest at a later stage.
Nine-time league champion Ben Komakech, former MVP Jimmy Enabu, veteran Joseph Ikong and Geoffrey Soro will bring a touch of experience to the side while new faces like Innocent Ochera and Bbale are expected to give the team a new look.
Dependable 3×3 star Tony Drileba, U18 graduate Ivan Muhwezi and the enterprising Titus Lual Odeke are hoping to make a decent case for themselves as they have the potential to be the core of the next generation of this side.
Robinson Opong, who along with Enabu topped the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers scoring charts after three windows in 2018, will bring a good vibe to the team’s back court.
Power forward Samuel Kalwanyi returns to the side after a two-year absence due to school commitments in the United States while new additions have been made including Ishmail Wainwright and Eric Rwahwire. Deng Geu will be hoping to build on his performance at the last AfroBasket in 2017 in Senegal.
The Silverbacks will miss the services of captain and veteran Stephen Omony who is recovering from an injury as well as dependable point guard Jordin Mayes.
Uganda were drawn with Egypt, Morocco and the winner of the Pre-Qualifiers tournament set to take place later this month in Yaounde, Cameroon.
There are five qualifying groups and the top three from each group and a wildcard will form the 16 teams that will qualify for the FIBA Afrobasket 2021 in Rwanda from August 24 to September 5.
Uganda has qualified for and competed at the last two Afrobasket tournaments – Tunisia 2015 and Senegal/Tunisia 2017 and we are determined to make it a third straight time.
The tentative set date for travel to Egypt is November 12th 2020.
Summoned team
Local-Based: Ben Komakech (City Oilers), Tony Drileba (City Oilers), Fayed Bbale (UCU Canons), Innocent Ochera (JKL Dolphins), Ivan Muhwezi (City Oilers), Jimmy Enabu (City Oilers), Joseph Ikong Anyuru (C. Oilers), David Deng Kongor (UCU), Geoffrey Soro (Nam Blazers), James Okello (City Oilers), Stanley Mugerwa (Warriors), Titus Lual Odeke (UCU Canons).
Foreign-Based: Emmanuel Mugenga (France), Samuel Kalwanyi (USA), Ishmail Wainwright (USA), Robinson Opong (Canada), Eric Rwahire (Canada), Deng Geu (Denmark).
