Rivers Hoopers drawn in BAL Kalahari Conference News

Last seasons Basketball Africa League bronze medallists, Rivers Hoopers have been drawn to play in the Kalahari Conference of the 2025 BAL season from April 5 to 13 in Morocco, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

In a BAL’s statement released on Friday, the KingsMen will play against FUS Rabat of Morocco, Egypt’s Al Ittihad, and Stade Malien of Mali at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco.

The six-time Nigerian champions will play the season opener against Stade Malien.

The 2025 BAL teams have been divided into three conferences of four teams each. Each conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice.

Top two teams from each conference and the two best third-placed teams from across the three conferences will advance to the playoffs.

The eight qualified teams will play four seeding games, followed by an eight-game, single-elimination playoffs and finals from June 6 to 14 at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.

Rivers Hoopers will be making their third appearance at the 2025 Basketball Africa League.

They featured in the inaugural season held in 2021 and last season’s edition, where they finished third.

Hoopers picked this year’s ticket by retaining their Nigeria Premier Basketball League title with a commanding 71-54 win over Hoops and Read Basketball Club in the playoffs final last November in Port Harcourt.

After setting a Nigerian record last year, Rivers Hoopers coach Ogoh Odaudu has said the team’s ambition at this year’s BAL is to go one better by reaching the final or even win the coveted trophy.

“Amadou Gallo Fall personally approached me and said, hey, you guys have to go and build on all of this that you just did, otherwise, it will all be a waste,” Hoopers coach Ogoh Odaudu told ESPN.

“This is why it is such a great feeling for us to know that we are going back. It means a lot to me because we didn’t want to miss out on qualifying. After all, then it would mean that whatever it is that we achieved the previous BAL was just a fluke. So we really wanted to go back and build on it.”