Rivers Hoopers forward Devine Eke has revealed that he has his sights set on putting Nigerian basketball back on the map by helping the team do well at the 2024 Basketball Africa League.
The five-time Nigerian Basketball League Champions have been drawn in a tough Sahara Conference of the BAL.
This will features former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), BAL 2023 runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and Rwandan Champions APR.
However, Eke, who was one of the final additions to the Hoopers’ squad in preparation for the BAL 2024, thinks the KingsMen have what it takes to make progress at the tournament, as the team remains united in their desire for victory.
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He said: “I honestly think, looking at the little that I’ve seen in the past few days, we can go pretty far because everyone here has the same goal.
“We’re all trying to win; nobody is selfish here, and we’re all together.
“So, I feel we can go really far.
“I understand that this is a tough conference that we’re going into, and I’m very excited to see how we play.”
The 27-year-old, who made his national team debut with the Nigeria senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, at the 2025 Afrobasket qualifiers in Tunisia in February, where he averaged 22 points, 8.3 rebounds, and five assists in three games, also reiterated his desire to win at the BAL and, in the process, put Nigerian basketball back on the map.
He stated: “I want to win.
“I want to win the championship.
“I want to go to Rwanda, and I want to do big things.
“Like I said before, putting Nigerian basketball back where it’s supposed to be is the big thing I want to do.”
The former Zunder Palencia (Spain) forward, who also played for Acadêmica Efapel (Portugal), Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord (The Netherlands), and OKK Sloboda Tuzla (Bosnia), is excited to play in his first BAL tournament and believes that Rivers Hoopers will have a good outing at BAL Season 4 if the team continues to do the right things.
Eke added: This is just another step in the right direction to put Nigerian basketball back where it’s supposed to be.
“At the end of the day, we’re all trying to win; we’re all here for one goal, and if we continue to practice the right way, I think everything will be good.”
Rivers Hoopers are scheduled to take on home team AS Douanes (last year’s runners-up) in their first game at the Sahara Conference on May 4, 2024 in Dakar, Senegal.
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