The national men’s basketball team, Silverbacks, arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, on Wednesday and will be ready for their first game of the FIBA Afrobasket Championship on Wednesday.
The team has struggled to get to Kigali and had their planned camp in Alexandria, Egypt canceled due to lack of timely funding from the National Council of Sports but remains confident of a good show when the games come.
“Our eyes are on the prize,” team captain Jimmy Enabu said upon the team’s arrival in Kigali on Wednesday.
“We have had challenges but those will not let us down at all. We are ready to compete,” he added.
Players have had to do it on their own to stay ready and in shape to play.
Power forward James Okello revealed that players were all active in their different locations and this should mean they are fit enough to compete at the biggest stage in African basketball.
“We have been active, not as a group but individually we were all working out,” he said.
The group of five players from Uganda and coaches Mandy Juruni plus Andrew Tendo made the trip to Kigali and will team up with the foreign-based lot later on.
Enabu, Okello, Tony Drileba, Ben Komakech, and Titus Lual are the locally based players selected for the finals.
Toronto Raptors Ishmail Wainwright, Arthur Kaluma, Eric Rwahwire, Kieran Zziwa, Deng Geu, Robinson Opong, and Adam Seiko are the players from the rest of the world.
Uganda is placed in group D alongside powerhouses Senegal, Cameroon, and South Sudan.
Uganda is yet to win a group game at the Afrobasket and will be hoping to get that off their chest in their third consecutive appearance at the finals.
2021 FIBA AFROBASKET
GROUP A: Rwanda, DR Congo, Angola, Cape Verde
GROUP B: Tunisia, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea
GROUP C: Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali
GROUP D: Senegal, Cameroon, South Sudan, Uganda
UGANDA’S FIXTURES
Aug. 25: Senegal vs. Uganda
Aug. 27: Uganda vs. Cameroon
Aug. 29. South Sudan vs. Uganda
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