The Top 10 moments that shaped African basketball in 2023

 

ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - As 2023 comes to a close, FIBA.basketball recalls the Top 10 moments that shaped - one way or another - African basketball over the last twelve months.

From historic feats, a remarkable appointment to a senior managerial position to the shocking passing of a former African champion, 2023 was unique in its own way. 

AL AHLY SHOW WHAT THEY ARE MADE OF

Egypt champions Al Ahly Sporting Club  showed their true champion colors as they lifted their first-ever Basketball Africa League (BAL) title in their maiden appearance in the competition.

Nuni Omot was named MVP of the 2023 Basketball Africa League

And although the winners of the 2016 FIBA Africa Champions Cup suffered their only defeat - a 91-90 home setback - to eternal BAL title contenders Petro de Luanda, Al Ahly had the last laugh by becoming the second Egyptian club - after Zamalek in 2021 - to win the highly sought-after BAL title.

A few months later, in September, Al Ahly Sporting Club became the first African team to win a FIBA InterContinental game by beating NBA G League's representative Ignite 82-76 and, subsequently, reach the Semi-Finals, where they fell short to China's Golden Bulls.

ALEXANDRIA SPORTING CLUB WIN BACK-TO-BACK AFRICAN TITLES

Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) has enter an elite group of teams with two more of African titles.
                                                                    ASC has become the first  Egyptian women's side to win African clubs title(s)

Twelve months after winning the 2022 FIBA Africa Champions Cup for Women in Maputo, Mozambique, ASC won the first edition of the newly-launched Africa Women's Basketball Africa League (AWBL), finishing with a remarkable 7-0 mark.

The Egyptian champions, who played as hosts in Alexandria, saw off Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 103-59 in the Final. 

UNBEATABLE D'TIGRESSES DO IT AGAIN

Last August, three-time African champions Nigeria landed in Kigali aiming to become the second team - since Senegal did it in 1970s - to win four Women's AfroBasket titles in a row.

Nigeria's last loss in African basketball happened in the Semi-Final of the 2015 Women's AfroBasket against host Cameroon 

D'Tigresses showed up with a new coaching staff, a number of new faces, but when it mattered most, they delivered it in style, winning their fourth African title in t a row. 

GUINEA PROVE DOUBTERS WRONG

Both Egypt and Mali were the most dominant teams at U16 African Championship until Guinea proved them wrong.

Guinea not only beat Egypt in the Group Phase, but they also upset the five-time African champions in the Final to win their first-ever FIBA U16 African Championship title, a feat that ensured them a place at the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.

SOUTH SUDAN ARE THE NEW NUMBER ONE TEAM IN AFRICA

Besides qualifying to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup with the best record in Africa (11-1), South Sudan finished as the best-placed Africa team at the 32-nation FIBA Basketball World Cup, and, as a result, they qualified automatically to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

And, when FIBA updated its last World Cup Rankings, sponsored by NIKE, in September, the Bright Stars climbed 32 places to close the year as the Number One-ranked African team.

Here's how far the self-proclaimed Giants of the Nile ranked over the last six years before taking African basketball by a storm:

December 2017 - No. 137 in the World; No. 29 in Africa
December 2018 - No. 124 in the World; No. 20 in Africa
December 2019 - No. 123 in the World; No. 19 in Africa
December 2020 - No. 98 in the World; No. 16 in Africa
December 2021 - No. 82 in the World; No. 14 in Africa
December 2022 - No.63 in the World; No. 7 in Africa
December 2023 - No. 31 in the World; No.1 in Africa

KENYA STUN EGYPT

Few saw it coming, but Kenyan players and coaching staff believed until the final buzzer they could make history, and they did just that by shocking front-runners Egypt in the final of the 2023 3x3 Women's Africa Cup held in Cairo.  

 

 

FIRST WOMAN TO CHAIR NBA AFRICA

Rwandan Clare Akamanzi has become the first women to be appointed CEO of NBA Africa. According to the institution, Akamazi, who replaced Victor William, is an accomplished business executive and international trade and investment lawyer. She will start her position on January 23, 2024, and report to NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum.

FIRST AFRICA-BORN SINCE OLAJUWON TO WIN THE NCAA MOP AWARD 

Adama Sanogo,  who took center stage after leading the University of Connecticut to their fifth NCAA title, became the first African-born player to be named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (MOP) since 1983 when Nigeria's Hakeem Olajuwon won it. 

 

REGGIE MOORE PASSING

Angola and African Basketball mourned the death of Reggie Moore, who passed away on June 12 in Luanda at the age of 42.

An Angolan Basketball Federation statement emphasised that Moore "honoured our national team colours with respect and determination."

Reggie Moore

Born in the US, Moore became one of the few Americans to acquire Angolan citizenship in 2013. 

Besides helping Angola to the their eleventh and last AfroBasket in 2013, Moore was part of the Petro de Luanda team that won the 2015 FIBA Africa Champions Cup, and helped his adopted country to the title of the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville.  

ANIBAL MANAVE RE-ELECTED FIBA AFRICA PRESIDENT

In June, Anibal Manave was reelected FIBA Africa President for the 2023-2027 term. The Mozambican native admitted that his next four years will be challenging, but he vowed to do everything in his power to make his second term a success.  

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Another historic feat in 2023 was Morocco's FIBA AfroCan title - their first African basketball title in more than five decades.

 FIBA