Team Profile: Rwanda’s national team, led by Coach Cheikh Sarr, aims to secure a spot in the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket. Captain Dieudonne Ndizeye and debutant Antino Jackson headline the squad as Group C battles begin in Dakar.
Last Updated on
November 22, 2024
Coach Cheikh Sarr hopes to take his Rwandese squad to his home country and carry the day as window two of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers gets underway in Dakar, Senegal.
Rwanda plays Gabon, Cameroon and host nation Senegal in Group C, with the teams that finish in the top three places after the last window in February qualifying for the next FIBA AfroBasket set to be held in Angola. The stakes are high for Rwanda, which has not missed the premier African national team competition since 2015. Before that, they had been featured in all of them since 2009.
Coach Sarr's charges finished 10th on home soil in the last edition (2021) and are looking to make it back to the 16-team competition and try to translate their AfroCan heroics, a third-place finish, on the biggest continental platform.
Coach Sarr, speaking to Rwanda's The New Times says he went for a mix of youth and experience, declaring his squad ready for battle in Dakar.
"Cameroon and Senegal are good teams. We have to be very organized to beat them," he told Times.
Leading Sarr's troops are Dieudonne Ndizeye, who takes over the captaincy from Kenny Gasana, the veteran who has since assumed second assistant coach duties. Ndizeye, a regular member, made a name for himself during the 2023 AfroCan, leading Rwanda to its first-ever podium finish in a continental competition.
He made the All-Star team and bagged home the best three-pointer award winner. As Rwanda faced an uphill task of beating neighbours DR Congo, the left-handed Ndizeye came up with a crucial 22 points resulting from his 6-for-11 three-point shooting. The 27-year-old recorded a team-high 15.7 points per game to help the squad make history for Rwanda.
Coach Sarr is also expected to lean on point guard Antino Jackson, who will play for Rwanda for the first time, and Swiss-based power forward Dylan Shema for leadership.
Confimed Roster: Antino Alvares Jackson Jr, Jean Jacques Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, William Robeyns, Kenny Manzi, Dieudonne Ndizeye, Steven Hagumintwari, Emile Kazeneza, Bruno Shema, Prince Muhizi, Cadeaux de Dieu Furaha, Shema Osborn, Noah Bigirumwami.
[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]
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