Patriots Basketball Club, also known as simply Patriots, is a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club based in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

, Rwanda. Established in 2014, it plays its home games at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. The team is a four-time champion of the

Rwanda Basketball League The Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) (formerly the National Basketball League Rwanda) is the top professional basketball league in Rwanda. Its season usually runs from November to September. The winners of the NBL season qualify for the qualifier ...

(RBL). In the 2021 season, the Patriots played in the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...

(BAL). The club gained worldwide attention when American star rapper

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his d ...

signed with the team to play in the BAL.

History

The club Patriots BBC was founded in 2014 by a group of top corporate executives from diverse sectors of the economy. Two years later, the Patriots won their first national championship. On 21 September 2019, the Patriots won their fourth league title after defeating REG BBC in Game 7 of the finals, in a sold out

Kigali Arena BK Arena (formerly known as Kigali Arena until 2022) is an multi-purpose indoor arena in Kigali, Rwanda, used mostly for basketball and volleyball matches. Built and finished in 2019, it hosts sporting events and concerts. It is the biggest ind ...

. On 26 October, head coach Henry Mwinuka, who won three league championships with Patriots, parted ways with the club to join

REG Reg or REG may refer to: * Reginald (disambiguation) * Reg or desert pavement * Raising for Effective Giving, a charity * Random event generator (parapsychology) * Raptor Education Group * Regal Entertainment Group * Regular language * .reg MS Wi ...

. On 6 November, assistant coach Carey Odhiambo was promoted to become head coach. In April 2021, ahead of the first-ever BAL season, the team signed American

Alan Major Alan M. Major (born June 21, 1968) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of Patriots BBC of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He was the head coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 2010 to 2015. Before bein ...

as new head coach. In April 2021, five days before the release of his album, ''

The Off-Season ''The Off-Season'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper J. Cole. It was released on May 14, 2021, by Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records. The album was executive produced by Cole, Moss,Ibrahim Hamad, and T-Minus. It al ...

'', American rapper

signed with the Patriots. The Patriots played their first BAL game on 16 May 2021 at home in Kigali, beating Nigerian side

Rivers Hoopers Rivers Hoopers is a Nigerian basketball team based in Port Harcourt, Rivers. The team plays in the Nigerian Premier League. Established in 2009 as Royal Hoopers, the team has played in the Premier League since its inception. Hoopers have won the ...

83–60. Eventually, the team finished in an impressive fourth place of the tournament.

Players

Current roster

Past rosters

2021 BAL season The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental leag ...

Notable players

Aristide Mugabe Aristide Mugabe (born 11 February 1988) is a Rwandan professional basketball player for Patriots of the RBL. Starting his career with Rusizi, Mugabe signed with Espoir in 2009 and helped the team win four RBL championships while winning two MV ...

Walter Nkurunziza Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

Sedar Sagamba The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA; , ACVM) is an umbrella organization of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators whose objective is to improve, coordinate, and harmonize regulation of the Canadian capital markets. ...

Jean de Dieu Niagunduka Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

Honours

National Basketball League *Winners (4): 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020

BAL Bal may refer to: * Bal (surname), a Dutch, Indian, and Turkish surname * Bal, Iran (disambiguation) * Bal, Zira, a village in Punjab, India * ''Bal'' (film), a 2010 Turkish film * Bäl, a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland * 8678 Bä ...

*Fourth place (1):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Season by season

Head coaches

References

External links

Presentation at Afrobasket.comPresentation at facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patriots BBC Basketball teams in Rwanda Basketball teams established in 2014 2014 establishments in Rwanda Sport in Kigali Basketball Africa League teams Road to BAL teams