Kenya's Bungei enhancing family's sports legacy

DAKAR (Senegal) - Preston Bungei always kisses the crest of the Kenyan jersey before he heads out of the locker room for any game. Donning the red and white of the Morans means more than just competing in sports, it's the pursuance of a family tradition, one that has seen his father and forefathers excel in sports.

The 27-year-old is living his dream of representing Kenya and fostering his parents' passion for sports.

"I owe it to my father to represent Bungei and do things right for Kenya. This is what he would've wanted me to do."- Preston Bungei

His parents met as athletes competing in a college athletics tournament and their drive for sports was the uniting bond.

"My mother was an athlete and she was very good in track events. She was like a star athlete back in college and was very talented." Bungei told FIBA.basketball.

"So it's while she competed in athletics that she met my father.

"My father James Bungei was born in Kenya but he went to the USA on an athletics scholarship and that's where both of them met," Bungei smiled before expatiating: "They both loved sports and I feel like this is a path that they had already established for me."

"My father was a four-time college champion in his category and just seeing how much he was dedicated to sports, I knew I had to play a sport but whatever I did, I've always known I have to put Kenya on the map."

Preston's father, James Bungei isn't the lone renowned Bungei who became prominent shattering records on athletic tracks.

Google the name Bungei and the most prominent is Wilfred Bungei, a retired middle-distance runner who scooped an Olympic gold medal for Kenya in 800 meters in 2008 and won the World indoor championship in 2006.

Bungei admits he gets quizzed very often over whether the Olympic gold medalist is a relative of his.

"I hear that all the time," the Randers Cumbria star in Denmark admits while laughing before chipping in "Wilfred Bungei is a good athlete but we're not close relatives. I think we're probably from the same tribe but it's good to hear people associate me with him."

 So with so many athletic stories gracing his childhood, the inevitable question the former Norfolk University swingman gets asked is "why basketball"?

"My mother's father Phil Harmon was an incredible basketballer. He played at Kansas University which has an incredible basketball program," Bungei reveals.

"My grandfather was teammates with NBA Hall of Famer Jo Jo White and he has such a great wealth of basketball that he's always encouraging and motivating me.

"My grandpa is still alive and even though the game now is quite different from what it was back then, he's giving me tips on how to face certain situations, what aspects of my game to improve on, and how I can get better."

Bungei is resolved exchanging with his grandfather has sort of shaped his game.

 "My grandpa always tells me if they had the three-point line back then, surely he would've averaged way more points.

"But he's also helped me a lot watching my games. When I was younger he kept telling me of the importance of offensive rebounding and why I always had to crash the glass and it's something I carried with me.

"When I was playing in Bosnia I had 20 rebounds in a game and that was just all thanks to what we've been able to share. I'm grateful that he's there to encourage me and spur me forward. It's really important."

Bungei's excitement is overshadowed by some tragedy. In 2011, his father Bungei Snr passed away. The death of the man he refers to as his "coolest friend" left him heartbroken but further strengthened his zeal to pursue the Bungei sporting legacy.

"I owe it to my father to represent Bungei and do things right for Kenya. This is what he would've wanted me to do.

"But I'm also very happy that I still have my mother and she's been fantastic. She's motivating me in so many ways and this is having an impact on how I play."

Kenya's return to basketballing prominence on the continental scene has been even more glaring in the past three years.

In 2019, the Morans finished runners-up behind the Democratic Republic of Congo in the maiden edition of the FIBA AfroCan 2019, a competition solely for players who ply their trade in African clubs.

 
Barely two years later, the team sealed their spot for the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket, returning to the pinnacle nations tournament after a 28-year absence from the event.

Bungei averaged 8.3 points and 5 rebounds in the AfroBasket Qualifiers as he aided Kenya to realize a close to three-decade ambition.

Having been part of that historic moment, Bungei wants to shatter a new ceiling with the Morans, that of picking up a maiden ticket for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"It's special for me and it's a priority for us to help Kenya get to that level of world basketball."

"It's a great feeling knowing that we can do that but as a team, we have to work hard to achieve this."

Kenya lost their first game in the second window of the World Cup African Qualifiers, bowing 66-56 to the Democratic Republic of Congo but even that loss has in no way dented their ambitions.

"The impact will be huge if we qualify for the World Cup. Everyone in this group understands this and that's why we're playing with our hearts. We fight every day on the court like there's no tomorrow.

"Basketball has made a huge jump in Kenya with the team already qualifying for the AfroBasket and the game will go a step higher if we can qualify for the World Cup."

"It will be tough because there are some really good teams but we're the Morans of Kenya, we never give up and we fight till the end," he concluded.

FIBA