Their stories are what the founding fathers of the BWB programme in Africa wanted to achieve when they started the first camp in 2003, spearheaded by African and NBA basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo.
They wanted proper development of raw talent from the continent to make it in the sport without having to leave Africa.
Basketball Africa League president Amadou Gallo Fall has been in the thick of things over the past two decades.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 20th Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp which tipped off on Saturday featuring current and former NBA and WNBA players, coaches and scouts along with 60 enthusiastic high-school-age prospects at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ), Gallo Fall was over the moon with the growth the programme had achieved.
Former SA basketball player Patrick Engelbrecht, 46, who is the head global scout and head of international affairs for NBA Canadian team the Toronto Raptors, was also among those who volunteered to assist in the inaugural camp and is impressed by the growth the programme has had over the decades.
“We have kids now being drafted directly from the continent, national teams playing in the Olympics at the highest level,” Engelbrecht said.
“It’s a new day for African basketball. These are all the things that we dreamt about when we started this camp about 20 years ago.
“To see all these things now come to fruition is good, there is a full ecosystem on the continent where you have elite academies for kids to realise their dreams and be drafted from the continent and not plying their trade in Europe or in the US.”
Out of the 60 attendees from 20 African countries, Lana Schreyer, Reatlegile Taukobong, Ntokoza Thonga, Snquobile Thwala, Tinyiko Makhubela and Ikechukwu Ejike are representing SA and participating in a four-day camp in basketball activities which include skills stations, scrimmages and basketball games.
They stand a chance of being the next class of successful prospects from the continent.
DispatchLIVE
NBA’s Basketball Without Borders project marks two decades of success in Africa
Image: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS
About 12 months ago, a young man from South Sudan named Khaman Maluach sat pretzel-style on the American International School in Midrand indoor courts during the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa programme listening to NBA star Bam Adebayo.
Fast forward a few months and the 2023 BWB Most Valued Player is at the ongoing Paris Summer Olympics representing his country of birth aged just 16 where he lined up against the US and his tutor, Adebayo, who had shared words of wisdom with him.
Ulrich Chomche, from Cameroon, who was named the 2022 BWB Defensive MVP among boys at the camp, now plies his trade for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA after being recently drafted, following in the footsteps of fellow countryman Joel Embiid.
He became the first NBA Academy Africa prospect to be drafted, as well as the first player to be drafted directly out of any NBA Academy.
Aged 18, he is also the first former BAL player to be selected.
Embiid, currently regarded as one of the best players in the NBA, attended the BWB African camp in 2011.
Some might call the positions the African prospects find themselves in destiny but the progression would not likely happen without investment from those in charge of basketball on the continent.
Image: GREGORY SHANUS/GETTY IMAGES
Their stories are what the founding fathers of the BWB programme in Africa wanted to achieve when they started the first camp in 2003, spearheaded by African and NBA basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo.
They wanted proper development of raw talent from the continent to make it in the sport without having to leave Africa.
Basketball Africa League president Amadou Gallo Fall has been in the thick of things over the past two decades.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 20th Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp which tipped off on Saturday featuring current and former NBA and WNBA players, coaches and scouts along with 60 enthusiastic high-school-age prospects at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ), Gallo Fall was over the moon with the growth the programme had achieved.
Former SA basketball player Patrick Engelbrecht, 46, who is the head global scout and head of international affairs for NBA Canadian team the Toronto Raptors, was also among those who volunteered to assist in the inaugural camp and is impressed by the growth the programme has had over the decades.
“We have kids now being drafted directly from the continent, national teams playing in the Olympics at the highest level,” Engelbrecht said.
“It’s a new day for African basketball. These are all the things that we dreamt about when we started this camp about 20 years ago.
“To see all these things now come to fruition is good, there is a full ecosystem on the continent where you have elite academies for kids to realise their dreams and be drafted from the continent and not plying their trade in Europe or in the US.”
Out of the 60 attendees from 20 African countries, Lana Schreyer, Reatlegile Taukobong, Ntokoza Thonga, Snquobile Thwala, Tinyiko Makhubela and Ikechukwu Ejike are representing SA and participating in a four-day camp in basketball activities which include skills stations, scrimmages and basketball games.
They stand a chance of being the next class of successful prospects from the continent.
DispatchLIVE
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