Scramble for slots as Silverbacks start Zone V preps
KAMPALA.
Norman Blick, Mark Opio, Jonah Otim and Ivan Lumanyika will have another chance to influence Silverbacks coach Mandy Juruni as the national team prepares for next month’s Fiba Africa Zone V basketball championship in Egypt.
The quartet who all missed out as the Silverbacks made a maiden appearance at the 2015 Afro Basket were among 12 domestic league players that were due to start training yesterday at YMCA.
The team is preparing for zonal tournament where the top two nations will qualify for the continental championship due August 17–31 in Congo-Brazzaville.
“We intend to have eight local based and four foreign players. At the moment we are yet to decide on who the four will be because of the number of players who have expressed interest but who might not be considered Ugandan citizens,” stated Grace Kwizera a member of the Muhammed Santur led national team committee.
In 2015 US-based guard John Baligwaire who emerged MVP in the Zone V qualifiers missed out on the Afro Basket championship after Fuba failed to convince the world governing body Fiba that he was a Ugandan citizen.
Consequently, Brandon Sebirumbi filled the spot offered to a naturalised player for each participating team as uganda finished 15th.
Also on the squad is Oilers guard Ben Komakech who has since fully recovered from a serious knee problem that saw him miss large parts of the 2015 season. Fuba according to Kwizera are also planning a training camp in Egypt ahead of the zonal tournament that will take place in March 12-18.
