Meet the 2025 Sahara Conference teams

Two newcomers and two former champions make up the 2025 Sahara Conference.

From Saturday, April 26 to May 4, ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal), Kriol Star (Cape Verde), Petro de Luanda (Angola) and US Monastir (Tunisia) will compete over six days at the Dakar Arena for the right to secure the two automatic berths to the 2025 BAL postseason.

BAL.NBA.COM brings you an insider look at the four contenders in Dakar.

KRIOL STAR

The first Cape Verdean team to qualify for the BAL, they come with the ambition to rewrite the history of the league and the continent's basketball.

Club History

The club was founded in 2015 as an initiative of the Community Foundation by brothers Joel and Ivan Almeida, who are part of the team's roster.

In October 2025, just before the Road to BAL qualifiers, the foundation was transformed into the current Kriol Star basketball club.

"John Lopez, the president of the club, played a pivotal role in getting us into the Road to BAL," Joel Almeida recognized.

"In the Road to BAL Elite 16, we played five games in six days, we had a rotation of nine players, and we beat the number one team [Urunani] to qualify. Along the way, we proved that we belong. It's nothing but pride and honor for a team that was formed less than two months ago to qualify for the biggest club competition on the African continent. We are here to put Cape Verde back on the map. We did it with the World Cup [qualification for 2023].

How they qualified

A 0-2 record in the first round of FIBA's Road to BAL in Tripoli, Libya, wasn't the start the islanders were looking for after losses to Stade Malien and hosts Al Ahly Tripoli.

Those two losses meant that Kriol Star were out of the race for the 2025 BAL season, but when FIBA Africa awarded them a wild card for the Elite 16 round of qualifiers in Nairobi, Kenya, it was an opportunity of a lifetime that they grabbed with open arms.

Although Kriol Star lost twice to Nairobi City Thunder, wins over Braveheart (Malawi) and MBB (South Africa) in the group stage, and a 90-82 victory over favourites Urunani stamped their passport to the 2025 BAL season.

BAL Record

Kriol Star will play their first-ever BAL game on the opening day of the 2025 Sahara Conference when they take on reigning champions Petro de Luanda.

Head Coach

Hugo Salgado grew up playing basketball at Vasco da Gama, one of the most popular basketball academies in Portugal.

In a brief interview with BAL.NBA.COM, the 37-year-old Salgado said he's been a professional basketball coach for over a decade.

"At the age of 27, I was the youngest coach in the history of the Portuguese Basketball League," said Salgado, who has also coached in Iceland, Norway and the Czech Republic.

"The opportunity to coach Kriol Star came through Joel and Ivan Almeida, who I coached in Portugal. I recently resigned as head coach of the Portuguese 3-on-3 national team to focus on my family and the Kriol Star cause," Salgado explained.

"We are not here to make numbers. We are here to represent Cape Verde in the best possible way and try to win [the BAL]," Salgado stressed.

ASC VILLE DE DAKAR

The ASC Ville de Dakar basketball team was founded in 2014 and rocked Senegalese basketball last year.

Considered an underdog by some, ASC Ville de Dakar beat the historic Dakar Universite Club (DUC) in the final of the Nationale 1 Masculin last year to win its first league title.

Ten years, that's all it took for ASC Ville de Dakar to reach the top of the Senegalese basketball pyramid.

They are the third Senegalese team after AS Douanes and DUC to qualify for the Basketball Africa League.

How they qualified

As Senegalese champions, ASC Ville de Dakar automatically qualified for the BAL.

BAL Record

Ville de Dakar will play their first BAL game against former champions US Monastir on Saturday, April 26.

Head Coach

Libasse Faye is the man at the helm of ASC Ville de Dakar.

BAL.NBA.COM asked Coach Faye to tell the story of his coaching career.

Faye said he played football for about 15 years for local club ASC Diaraf. He then embarked on a basketball project, coaching his village team US Ouakam, before ASC Ville de Dakar offered him the coaching position he has held since 2022.

"My greatest achievement as a coach was to help my hometown team [US Ouakam] qualify for the Nationale 1 Masculin - Senegal's top league. Basketball is my passion, nothing else".

US MONASTIR

When it comes to talking about the most dominant team in the Tunisian Pro A league over the past decade, there is no one like Union Sportive Monastirienne, also known as US Monastir.

US Monastir has dominated Tunisian basketball, winning the last six editions of the Tunisian league.

In between, US Monastir won the Basketball Africa League title in 2022, a year after losing to Zamalek in the BAL final.

Due to their dominance in Tunisia, US Monastir will be making their fifth consecutive appearance in the BAL.

How they qualified

As champions of Tunisia, US Monastir automatically qualified for the 2025 BAL season.

BAL Record

Winners of the 2022 BAL season, US Monastir became the first reigning BAL champions to miss the postseason the following year.

Heading into the 2025 Sahara Conference, the Tunisian champions have an overall win-loss record of 19-8 dating back to 2021.

Head Coach

Vasco Curado was first introduced to African basketball in December 2015, when he served as an assistant at Tunisian team Club Africain under Mario Palma. The historic club won the Tunisian league title in 2015-16.

After being promoted to head coach, Curado led Club Africain to the 2016 FIBA Africa Champions Cup in Cairo.

Curado and Palma - the most successful coach in Africa with five AfroBasket titles - reunited in 2017, but a few months later Curado left for a head coaching position while Palma led Tunisia to the 2017 AfroBasket title.

Curado, who led US Monastir to the 2024 league title, returned to the team three weeks before the Sahara Conference.

He is the son of Jose Curado, a renowned Portuguese coach who enjoyed great success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

PETRO DE LUANDA

A team synonymous with the Basketball Africa League, that's how Petro de Luanda has become known in recent times.

Along with US Monastir, Petro de Luanda is one of the two teams that hasn't missed a single season of the Basketball Africa League since its inception in 2021.

Winner of the last five editions of the Angolan League, Petro de Luanda has tasted it all in the BAL.

After finishing fourth, third, second and winning the BAL last season, the Angolan champions are heading into the BAL Season 5 chasing history.

Before winning the 2024 BAL title, Petro de Luanda won the FIBA Africa Champions Cup in 2006 in Lagos, Nigeria, and in 2015 in front of their home fans in Luanda, Angola.

BAL Record

In the run-up to the 2025 Sahara Conference, Petro de Luanda held the record for the most games played in the BAL (30) and a win-loss record of 22-8.

Head Coach

Spaniard Sergio Valdomillos joined Petro de Luanda immediately after the Angolan champions finished 2-2 in the 2024 Kalahari Conference. Petro de Luanda won the 2024 BAL title with a 3-1 record under Valdomillos, who coached Mexico men's national team at some point in his career.