The BAL Nile Conference Group Phase is Here. This is What to Expect!

The 2022 BAL season is set to resume in less than two weeks in Cairo with six teams vying to secure their places in the highly anticipated playoffs in May in Kigali.

From April 9 – 19, the Hassan Mostafa Sports Hall in Cairo will be the playground of intense competition with 2021 BAL champion Zamalek hosting the six-team event.

The Nile Conference marks Zamalek’s second appearance on the international stage since hosting the 2022 FIBA Intercontinental Cup in February, and fans will be allowed in the arena.

Unlike the Sahara Conference where only two teams returned from the inaugural BAL season, the Nile Conference will see three teams returning to the tournament, including BAL defending champion Zamalek (Egypt), former FIBA Africa Champions Cup Petro de Luanda (Angola), and FAP (Cameroon), who came short of semi finals berth last season.

Newcomers to the BAL showpiece in Cairo include Democratic Republic of Congo’s champions Espoir Fukash, South Sudan’s Cobra Sport and Cape Town Tigers from South Africa.

A thorough look into the Nile Conference rosters, and it becomes clear that the tournament won’t be shy of talented players.

From household names in the African basketball scene to newcomers, the Nile Conference looks set for a must-watch tournament, some of the best Africa can offer.

Retaining more than half of their squad from last year, which included the Dikembe Mutombo BAL Defensive Player of the Year Anas Mahmoud, who averaged 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, Zamalek hired Head Coach Will Voigt, who guided Nigeria to their only African Championship title back in 2015.

The Egyptian champions also added former AfroBasket MVP Ike Diogu; they signed in sharpshooter D.J Strawberry – who plays internationally for Cameroon - and added Dominican Republic guard Edgar Sosa and Filipino-American Mikhael McKinney.

After finishing third last season, Petro de Luanda kept most of their squad, including Head Coach José Neto, but the Angolan champions lured Yanick Moreira and Anderson Correia.

Correia is a Cape Verde international player, who has made headlines recently for his incredible dunking ability - despite his relatively short height (6’2”) – and aggressive defensive game.

Moreira, on the other hand, has represented his native Angola on an number of occasions over the past few years. The 6’9” center who played as recently as last month for Peristeri in the Greek Basket League, was on the collegiate basketball roster for the Southern Methodist University under legendary Larry Brown.

FAP, Espoir Fukash and Cape Town Tigers advanced to the BAL Season Two through the FIBA-run Road to the BAL qualifiers held from October to December 2021.

And each team will count with a player drafted from the NBA Academy Africa.

Those players are: Ulrich Chomche (F.A.P/Cameroon), Khaman Maluach (Cobra Sport/South Sudan), Matar Diop (Cape Town Tigers/Senegal), Emmanuel Okorafor (Espoir Fukash/Nigeria), Thierry Darlan (Petro de Luanda/Central African Republic) and Khadim Mboup (Zamalek/Senegal).

Over ten nationalities – including American, Angolan, Cameroonian, Canadian, Cape Verdean, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Egyptian, Kenyan, Nigerian, Senegalese and South African – are expected to be represented in the Nile Conference.