Rivers Hoopers begin 2025 BAL campaign April 26

Nigerian champions, Rivers Hoopers, will begin their campaign in the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) on April 26 from the Sahara Conference, the organisers of the championship have said.

The 2025 BAL will tip off on April 5, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex, Rabat, Morocco, home of the Kalahari Conference.
 

Joining Rivers Hoopers in search of the BAL laurel are teams from 11 other African countries playing 48 games in Rabat; Dakar, Senegal; Kigali, Rwanda; and Pretoria.
The 12 teams will once again be divided into three conferences of four teams each, with each conference playing a 12-game group phase during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice. 

According to BAL, the Kalahari Conference group phase will be held from April 5 to April 13 in Rabat, the Sahara Conference group phase will be held from April 26 to May 4, at the Dakar Arena in Senegal, while the Nile Conference group phase will hold from May 17 to May 25, at the BK Arena, in Kigali, Rwanda.    

Eight teams from across the three conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Pretoria, which will tip off on June 6, and culminate with the 2025 BAL finals on June 14. 
 
Speaking on the competition, BAL President, Amadou Gallo Fall, said: “We have seen tremendous growth over the BAL’s first four seasons in the level of on-court competition, attendance, and engagement from fans and partners in Africa and globally.  
 
“Our milestone fifth season will build on that momentum and further showcase the level of talent and passion for basketball in Africa, including through the first BAL games in Morocco, and the first BAL Finals in South Africa.”
 
Also speaking on the fifth edition of the championship, FIBA Africa President, Anibal Manave, said: “The Kalahari Conference marks another expansion of the BAL into a new country on our continent, and we are more than satisfied.”
 

According to BAL, this season, the national league champions from seven countries, Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia,  will automatically qualify for the BAL. “The other five teams will qualify through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent, from October to December 2024.”

In addition to the games, the BAL said it would once again collaborate with its partners to conduct youth development and social impact programming in all four markets, including Jr. NBA, coaching and referee clinics, environmental days of service, the fourth BAL Innovation Summit, networking sessions to engage with members of the media, and a series of camps and workshops for young women as part of BAL4HER, the league’s platform for advancing gender equality in the African sports ecosystem.

On June 1, Angola’s Petro de Luanda became the first sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL finals after previous champions from Egypt and Tunisia.