Basketball Africa League Unveils Nile Conference Rosters Ahead of Group Phase in Egypt Tipping Off April 9

Each of the Nile Conference’s six teams, which come from six African countries, will have up to 13 players, at least eight of whom are citizens of their team’s home country

Six Nile Conference Teams Feature 78 Players from 12 Countries Across Africa and the U.S., Including Two Former NBA Players; Nile Conference Opener Will Feature Defending BAL (www.theBAL.com) Champion Zamalek of Egypt Taking on South Sudan’s Cobra Sport at Hassan Moustafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo at 2:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. CAT on Canal+, ESPN Africa, ESPN+, Voice of America, the NBA App, NBA.com and NBA.com/BAL; Tickets for Nile Conference Group Phase and Fan Zone Experience in Cairo from April 9-19 On Sale Now at NBA.com/BAL.

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) today unveiled the rosters of the six teams (https://bit.ly/3DNXqFO) that will compete in the league’s Nile Conference group phase at the Hassan Moustafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo, Egypt, which tips off Saturday, April 9 and runs through Tuesday, April 19.  The six teams – BC Espoir Fukash (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Cobra Sport (South Sudan), FAP (Cameroon), Petro de Luanda (Angola) and Zamalek (Egypt) – collectively feature 78 players from 12 countries across Africa and the U.S.

In the Nile Conference opener, defending BAL champion Zamalek of Egypt will take on South Sudan’s Cobra Sport at 2:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. CAT on Canal+, ESPN Africa, ESPN+, Voice of America, the NBA App, NBA.com and NBA.com/BAL in the first of 15 games taking place in Cairo this month.  The top four teams from the Nile Conference will join the top four teams from the Sahara Conference – REG (Rwanda), US Monastir (Tunisia), AS Salé (Morocco) and S.L.A.C (Guinea) – in the 2022 BAL Playoffs, which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 21-28.

The Nile Conference features two former NBA players: Jamel Artis (Cape Town Tigers; last played for the Orlando Magic) and Ike Diogu (Zamalek; last played for the San Antonio Spurs).  Diogu, the ninth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, won the 2015 FIBA AfroBasket championship as a member of the Nigeria Men’s National Team and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament in 2017.

Each of the Nile Conference’s six teams, which come from six African countries, will have up to 13 players, at least eight of whom are citizens of their respective team’s home country and up to four of whom are from other countries, with no more than two players per team from outside of Africa.  As part of the BAL Elevate (on.NBA.com/3KlaBkb) program, each team’s 13th roster spot is reserved for a prospects from NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, for the top high-school age prospects from across Africa and the first of its kind on the continent.  Below are the six BAL Elevate players participating in the Nile Conference group phase:

Team	BAL Elevate Player	Hometown/Country	Age	Height	Position
BC Espoir Fukash	Emmanuel Eberechukwu Okorafor	Abia State, Nigeria	17	6’9	F
Cape Town Tigers	Matar Diop	Dakar, Senegal	18	6’8	F
Cobra Sport	Khaman Madit Maluach	Rumbek, South Sudan	15	7’0	F
FAP	Ulrich Kamka Chomche	Bafang, Cameroon	16	6’11	F
Petro de Luanda	Thierry Serge Darlan	Bangui, Central African Republic	18	6’6	SG
Zamalek	Khadim Rassoul Mboup	Dakar, Senegal	15	6’7	G

The Nile Conference group phase will feature 12 former NCAA Division I players, including five players with NBA G League experience:

Team	Player	Country	Last College/University
Cape Town Tigers	Billy Preston*	U.S.	Kansas
Cape Town Tigers	Myck Kabongo*	DRC/Canada	Texas
Cape Town Tigers	Jamel Artis*	U.S.	Pittsburgh
Cape Town Tigers	Peter Prinsloo	South Africa	Marist
FAP	Alexis Wangmene Mang-Ikri	Cameroon	Texas
FAP	Morman Deshaun Lamar	U.S.	Towson
Petro de Luanda	Yanick Moreira*	Angola	Southern Methodist
Zamalek	Anas Mahmoud	Egypt	Louisville
Zamalek	Mikhael McKinney*	U.S.	Sacramento State
Zamalek	Edgar Sosa	U.S.	Louisville
Zamalek	Ike Diogu	U.S./Nigeria	Arizona State
Zamalek	Darryl DJ Strawberry Jr.	U.S.	Maryland

*Players with NBA G League experience

The Nile Conference also features eight players who previously participated in Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program for top prospects from across the continent that has seen 10 former campers drafted into the NBA, including five-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012) and 2019 NBA champion Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011):

Team	Player	Country	BWB Experience
Cape Town Tigers	Igor Lunnemann	South Africa	BWB Africa 2018
Cape Town Tigers	Lebesa Selepe	South Africa	BWB Africa 2008 & 2010
Cape Town Tigers	Liam Reid	South Africa	BWB Africa 2014
Cape Town Tigers	Nkosinathi Festile	South Africa	BWB Africa 2011
FAP	Alexis Wangmene Mang-Ikri	Cameroon	BWB Africa 2004
FAP	Yanis Rene Charles Ndjonga	Cameroon	BWB Africa 2018
Petro de Luanda	Gerson Domingos	Angola	BWB Africa 2013
Petro de Luanda	Yanick Moreira	Angola	BWB Africa 2009

The 12 BAL teams have been divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference.  Each conference plays a 15-game group phase during which each team faces the five other teams in its conference once.  The Sahara Conference group phase took place at the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal from March 5-15.

April 07, 2022