Nairobi City Thunder banking on new signings for deep BAL run

Nairobi City Thunder head coach Brad Ibs has backed the club's new signings to make a positive impact on the squad ahead of their Basketball Africa League (BAL) season that tips off on May 17th-25th, 2025, in Kigali, Rwanda.

The defending champions of the Kenya National Basketball League have bolstered the firepower in their ranks to boost the squad ahead of the BAL season that marks its fifth edition.

Ibs highlighted the addition of players who are well-versed in the BAL season to not only help the squad win matches but also improve the quality of the local players who have yet to step onto the continental stage.

"It is pretty common to recruit when teams go to the BAL.

“We have done the same, got some familiar faces coming back, and they definitely are going to help us raise our levels as a team, and even with our local players, they are going to sharpen them as well."

"We really like the team we have now; everybody is in the camp now, so we have nearly a month to prepare, and I think we will be ready."

The club's imports include point guard Uchenna "UC" Iroegbu, power forward Will Davis, who returns after having had a stint during the 2024 season, and the vastly experienced shooting ace Evans Ganapamo, among others.

Thunder's newest signing, center Feliciano Perez, played his first league match for the club in their 95-77 routing of Strathmore University over the weekend, scoring eight points to help extend this season's unbeaten run.

Kenya's maiden representatives to the BAL stage, the Thunder, will compete in the Nile Conference, which includes teams such as APR (Rwanda), MBB (South Africa), and Al Ahly Tripoli (Libya).

The teams will play each other twice in a group phase, with the top two teams advancing to the BAL playoffs in Pretoria, South Africa, from June 6th to June 14th.

At the same time, the Thunder boss expressed his elation for the recognition granted by the SOYA fraternity when the basketball club was named the Sports Team of the Year, 2024.

The Thunder, who had gone unbeaten in the 2024 season en route to their title, beat the Rising Stars and the Kenya Prisons volleyball teams to emerge winners in that category.

"It is great to be recognized. Obviously, there has been much hard work that has gone into the on-court success, so it's nice to know that people are watching."