The Basketball Africa League Wednesday announced “BAL Elevate,” a new programme that will see one NBA Academy Africa prospect join each of the 12 BAL teams for the league’s 2022 season tipping off Saturday.
The inaugural BAL Elevate programme will feature 12 prospects from six African countries who currently attend NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal for the top high-school age prospects from across Africa.
According to the NBA, in a statement, the programme will provide an opportunity for the next generation of African prospects to participate in the new professional league, showcase their talent on a global stage and help their respective teams compete for the 2022 BAL Championship.
“We believe BAL Elevate will be immensely valuable to the 12 BAL teams and to the young men from NBA Academy Africa who are ready to contribute at the professional level alongside the best players on the continent,” BAL president Amadou Fall said.
“There is a natural synergy between the BAL and NBA Academy Africa, and this program will provide another pathway for elite African prospects to reach their potential as players and people.”
The BAL Elevate selection process was conducted Tuesday by BAL Team presidents. BAL Elevate players from the same country as a BAL team were automatically appointed to that team. If there was more than one BAL Elevate player from the same country as a BAL team, the team selected one of the players while the remaining player(s) re-joined the player pool for the opportunity to be selected by a different team. BAL Elevate players will not share in the prize money awarded to the top BAL teams at the end of the season to preserve their amateur status.
Reuben Chinyelu, Joy Ighovodja and Emmanuel Okorafor are the three Nigerians listed in the 12-man rooster that also has four players from Senegal, two from Cameroon, one each from South Sudan, Morocco and Central African Republic.
There’s no Nigerian club in this year’s BAL, which has AS Sale (Morocoo), CFV (Mozambique), DUC (Senegal), REG (Rwanda), S.L.A.C (Guinea), Monastir (Tunisia), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Cobra Sport (South Sudan), F.A.P (Cameroon), Espoir Fukash (DRC), Petro de Luanda (Angola) and Zamalek (Egypt).
Chineyelu joins Mozambicans CFV, while Ighovodja and Okorafor are with REG and Espoir Fukash respectively.
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