2024 BAL season

Last updated

2024 BAL season
BAL Season 4 logo.jpg
League Basketball Africa League
Season2024
Dates9 March – 1 June 2024 [upper-alpha 1]
Number of games48
Number of teams12
Playoffs
Champions Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda (1st title)
  Runners-up Flag of Libya.svg Al Ahly Ly
Third place Flag of Nigeria.svg Rivers Hoopers
Fourth place Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers
Awards
MVP Jo Lual-Acuil (Al Ahly Ly)
Seasons

The 2024 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 4, was the 4th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 9 March 2024 and ended with the final on 1 June 2024, which was played in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for a fourth consecutive season. [1]

Contents

This season the league was expanded to 48 games, and from two conferences to three conferences, as South Africa hosted the inaugural Kalahari Conference. [2]

Al Ahly were the defending champions, having won the previous edition, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Al Ahly Ly. [3] Petro de Luanda from Angola won their first BAL championship after defeating Al Ahly Ly from Libya in the final. [4] As winners, Petro de Luanda, earned the right to play in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

Venues

On 19 June 2023, the BAL and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) announced they agreed on a multi-year extension to their collaboration. Under the extension, it was agreed that the BK Arena in Kigali was to host the playoffs and finals in the 2024, 2026 and 2028 seasons. [1]

On 5 January 2024, the host venues and schedule were announced. The SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, was the fourth arena to host BAL games. [5]

Format changes

The BAL expanded the total games in the season from 38 to 48. In the group phase, there were three conferences as the Kalahari Conference was added to the already existing Nile Conference and Sahara Conference. The number of teams in the conferences was decreased to four, with all teams playing each other twice. The top two teams and the two best third-placed teams advanced to the playoffs. Before the playoffs, the eight teams played seeding teams to determine their opponents in the single-elimination playoffs. This was the second time the match-ups in the playoffs were determined by seeding, with teams ranked 1 to 8, as this was last done in the inaugural season. [2]

Qualification

Qualified teams

The six directly qualified teams were the champions of the national leagues of six pre-selected countries. The other six team qualified through the Road to BAL.

Road to BAL

The Road to BAL began on 3 October and ended on 26 November 2023. On 21 September 2023, FIBA announced the 20 teams that had registered to play in the first round, which was played in five groups. [6] The final phase of the West Division was organised in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for a third time. Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted the East Division finals once again. [7] [8]

Chad was represented for the first time in tournament history, by Lamantins, however, the team forfeited during halftime of their first game. [9]

Teams

Africa location map without rivers.svg
Yellow pog.svg
APR
Location of teams of the 2024 BAL season main tournament.
Green pog.svg Green: Nile Conference; Yellow pog.svg Yellow: Sahara Conference; Red pog.svg Red: Kalahari Conference.

Petro de Luanda were the first team to qualify, as they won the 2022–23 Angolan Basketball League on 19 April 2023. [10]

APR, Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club, Dynamo and FUS Rabat made their league debuts. Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club and Dynamo were the first teams from Libya, the Central African Republic, and Burundi, respectively, to play in the BAL.

TeamMethod of qualificationDate of qualificationBAL appearancePrevious appearanceConsecutive appearancesPrevious best performanceRef.
Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 2022–23 Angolan League champions19 April 20234th 2023 4Runners-up (2022) [10]
Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League champions15 May 20232nd 2023 2Champions (2023) [11]
Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir 2022–23 Championnat Pro A champions27 May 20234th 2023 4Champions (2022) [12]
Flag of Rwanda.svg APR 2023 RBL season champions9 September 20231st1 [13]
Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes 2023 Nationale 1 champions17 September 20233rd 2023 2Runners-up (2023) [14]
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui Sporting Club Road to BAL West Division champions4 November 20231st1 [15]
Flag of Morocco.svg FUS Rabat Road to BAL West Division runners-up4 November 20231st1 [16]
Flag of Libya.svg Al Ahly Ly [upper-alpha 2] Road to BAL West Division third place5 November 20231st1 [17]
Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers Road to BAL East Division runners-up25 November 20232nd 2023 2Group phase (2023) [18]
Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers Road to BAL East Division champions25 November 20233rd 2023 3Quarterfinals (2022, 2023) [19]
Flag of Nigeria.svg Rivers Hoopers 2023 NBBF Premier League champions25 November 20232nd 2021 1Group phase (2021) [20]
Flag of Burundi.svg Dynamo Road to BAL East Division third place26 November 20231st1 [21]

Personnel

TeamHead coachCaptain
Al Ahly Flag of Spain.svg Augustí Julbe [22] Flag of Egypt.svg Seif Samir
Al Ahly Ly Flag of Serbia.svg Ivan Jeremić [23] Flag of Libya.svg Sofian Hamad [23]
APR Flag of Jordan.svg Maz Trakh Flag of Rwanda.svg Jean Jacques Nshobozwa
AS Douanes Flag of Senegal.svg Pabi Guèye Flag of Senegal.svg Alkaly Ndour
Bangui Sporting Club Flag of Cameroon.svg François Enyengue [23] Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Jimmy Djimrabaye [23]
Cape Town Tigers Flag of South Africa.svg Mlungisi Ngwenya Flag of South Africa.svg Lebesa Selepe [24]
City Oilers Flag of Morocco.svg Nesba Karim [25] Flag of Uganda.svg James Okello [26]
Dynamo Flag of France.svg Julien Chaignot [27] Flag of the United States.svg Bryton Hobbs [24]
FUS Rabat Flag of Morocco.svg Said El Bouzidi Flag of Morocco.svg Abdelhakim Zouita [28]
Petro de Luanda Flag of Brazil.svg José Neto (Conference Stage) [29] [upper-alpha 3] Flag of Angola.svg Carlos Morais [28]
Flag of Spain.svg Sergio Valdeolmillos (Playoffs) [30] [upper-alpha 3]
Rivers Hoopers Flag of Nigeria.svg Ogoh Odaudu Flag of Nigeria.svg Victor Anthony Koko [31]
US Monastir Flag of Tunisia.svg Adel Tlatli [32] Flag of Tunisia.svg Mokhtar Ghyaza [31]


Foreign and Elevate players

Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.

Each team had one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the "BAL Elevate" program. This year the league allocated the players to teams, a switch from the draft system used in the previous seasons. [33] Players were allocated based on the following criteria, in order: "country of birth, country of nationality, country where majority of life was spent, past BAL team, country of past BAL team." [33]

TeamPlayersElevate player [34]
12345
Al Ahly Flag of Ghana.svg Prince Ali [35] Flag of Libya.svg Tony Mitchell [36] Flag of the United States.svg Mark Lyons [37] Flag of Egypt.svg Seifeldin Hendawy
Al Ahly Ly Flag of South Sudan.svg Jo Lual-Acuil [38] Flag of the United States.svg Pierre Jackson^ [39] Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Murphy [40] Flag of South Sudan.svg Majok Deng [41] Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Solo Diabate [23] Flag of Senegal.svg Assane Mandian
APR Flag of the United States.svg Dario Hunt [42] Flag of Guyana.svg Obadiah Noel [43] Flag of Egypt.svg Abdullah Ahmed [43] Flag of Kenya.svg Tom Wamukota [44] Flag of Senegal.svg Mouhamed Camara [upper-alpha 4]
AS Douanes Flag of Niger.svg Abdoulaye Harouna [46] Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Mike Fofana [47] Flag of Nigeria.svg Chris Obekpa [47] Flag of Nigeria.svg Ifeanyichukwu Ochereobia [47] Flag of South Sudan.svg Madut Akec [47] Flag of Senegal.svg Khadim Mboup
Bangui Sporting Club Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Rolly Fula Nganga [23] Flag of the United States.svg Curtis Hollis [23] Flag of South Sudan.svg Moses Bol [48] Flag of Nigeria.svg Emeka Nwabuzor [48] Flag of South Sudan.svg Nyang Wek [23] Flag of Egypt.svg Ahmed Abouelela
Cape Town Tigers Flag of Mali.svg Cartier Diarra [49] Flag of the United States.svg Billy Preston [49] Flag of South Sudan.svg Ngor Manyang [49] Flag of Senegal.svg Mouhamadou Ndoye [49] Flag of South Sudan.svg Dhieu Deing* [50] Flag of Senegal.svg Yakhya Diop
City Oilers Flag of the United States.svg Patrick Rembert [51] Flag of the United States.svg Dane Miller Jr. [51] Flag of the United States.svg Randy Culpepper [51] Flag of Ghana.svg Bashir Ahmed [51] Flag of South Sudan.svg Khaman Maluach
Dynamo Flag of South Sudan.svg Dhieu Deing [27] Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Morakinyo Williams [52] Flag of the United States.svg Bryton Hobbs [53] Flag of Senegal.svg Makhtar Gueye [54] Flag of Nigeria.svg Israel Otobo [54] Flag of Senegal.svg Mohamed Camara
FUS Rabat Flag of Mali.svg Aliou Diarra [55] Flag of the United States.svg Ken Brown [56] Flag of the United States.svg John Jordan [57] Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Ayoub Nouhi [57] Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Yacine Baeri [57] Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Mohamed Sylla
Petro de Luanda Flag of the United States.svg Markeith Cummings [58] Flag of the United States.svg Anthony Nelson^ [59] Flag of the United States.svg Nick Faust [50] Flag of Angola.svg Aginaldo Neto
Rivers Hoopers Flag of the United States.svg Will Perry [60] Flag of Morocco.svg John Wilkins [61] Flag of Nigeria.svg David Ugonna
US Monastir Flag of South Sudan.svg Ater Majok [62] Flag of Mali.svg Sadio Doucouré [31] Flag of the United States.svg Chris Crawford [31] Flag of the United States.svg George Williams [31] Flag of the United States.svg Avry Holmes* [50] Flag of Tunisia.svg Ahmed Bedoui

Notes:
* Playoffs only.
^ Player left the team after the conference phase.


    Pre-season

    For a second consecutive season, the BAL champions directly qualified for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. At the 2023 Singapore edition, Al Ahly represented the league. Al Ahly finished in the fourth place, after previously beating the NBA G League Ignite to become the first African team to win a game in the competition's history.

    The league hosted the third BAL Combine at the Ibn Yassine Omnisports Hall in Rabat, Morocco, between 5 January and 7 January 2024. It was the first combine to be held on the African continent, after the previous editions were hosted in Paris and New York. [5] A total of 30 players participated under combine director Robert Pack. [5]

    Schedule

    The schedule for the 2024 season was officially released on 5 January 2024. [5]

    PhaseRoundDraw dateGames
    Qualifying rounds
    (Road to BAL)
    First Round3 – 23 October 2023
    Elite 1623 October 202331 October – 26 November 2023
    Regular seasonKalahari Conference9 – 17 March 2024
    Nile Conference19 – 27 April 2024
    Sahara Conference4 – 12 May 2024
    Seeding games24 May – 1 June 2024
    PlayoffsQuarter-finals
    Semi-finals
    Final and third place

    Conference phase

    The conference phase was played between 9 March and 12 May 2024. The 12 teams of the conference phase were divided into three conferences. In addition to the Sahara Conference and Nile Conference, the inaugural Kalahari Conference took place.

    Tiebreakers

    The ranking of teams in the regular season was determined as follows: [63] [64]

    1. Win-loss record;
    2. Head-to-head record;
    3. Point differential in the games between the respective teams;
    4. Number of points scored in the games between the respective teams;
    5. Average point differential in all games against other teams in the Conference;
    6. Average number of points scored in all games played against other teams in the Conference;
    7. Drawing.

    Kalahari Conference

    The Kalahari Conference games began on 9 March and ended on 17 March 2024 and were played at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa. In the opening day game between Burundi's Dynamo and South Africa's Cape Town Tigers, the Burundian side taped off the logo of league sponsor Visit Rwanda. Political tensions between the two border nations Burundi and Rwanda had been rising, as Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel militia in the country. [65] [66] Dynamo forfeited their second game against FUS Rabat on 10 March, with the BAL citing "refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements" as the reason why. [67] Following Dynamo's second forfeit on 12 March, the team was automatically withdrawn from the group as per FIBA rules. [68] Dynamo players Bryton Hobbs and Makhtar Gueye stated that the Burundian government had prohibited the team to wear the logo and ordered the club to forfeit its games if necessary. [65] [69]

    PosTeamPldWLGFGAGDPCTQualification FUS PDL CTT DBC
    1 Flag of Morocco.svg FUS Rabat 431363295+68.750Advance to playoffs 86–89 84–78 20–0
    2 Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 422360340+20.500 73–82 100–88 Canc.
    3 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers (H)41330534641.250 58–84 84–78 73–86
    4 Flag of Burundi.svg Dynamo (D)000000WithdrewCanc.Canc.Canc.
    Source: BAL
    Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
    (D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts

    Nile Conference

    Defending champions Al Ahly captured its first Nile Conference title, [70] despite surprisingly losing one game to lower-ranked City Oilers. [71] Al Ahly Ly edged out Bangui SC for the second place, winning the tiebreaker on head-to-head performance. City Oilers center Khaman Maluach, only 17 at the time, impressed by leading the league and blocks. [72]

    PosTeamPldWLGFGAGDPCTQualification ASC AAL BSC COB
    1 Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly (H)651544470+74.833Advance to playoffs 98–88 94–71 99–76
    2 Flag of Libya.svg Al Ahly Ly 633537498+39.500 [lower-alpha 1] 76–87 93–71 110–78
    3 Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui SC 63350952920.500 [lower-alpha 1] 79–85 96–93 101–88
    4 Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers 61546856193.167 82–81 68–79 76–91
    Source: BAL
    Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
    (H) Hosts
    Notes:
    1. 1 2 Head-to-head: Al Ahly Ly and Bangui SC were tied 1–1 in their games, +19 point differential for Al Ahly Ly over these two games.

    Sahara Conference

    The Rivers Hoopers clinched the Sahara Conference title and qualified for their first playoff appearance, after having missed out in 2021. [73] AS Douanes took the second place, while US Monastir advanced as one of the best-ranked third place teams. APR was eliminated after a loss to Douanes on the final gameday, becoming the first Rwandan team to fail to qualify for the playoffs. [74]

    PosTeamPldWLGFGAGDPCTQualification RIV ASD USM APR
    1 Flag of Nigeria.svg Rivers Hoopers 642441413+28.667Advance to playoffs 54–56 62–73 78–71
    2 Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes 633409385+24.500 [lower-alpha 1] 68–77 76–59 79–54
    3 Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir 63343745013.500 [lower-alpha 1] 63–84 75–69 84–89
    4 Flag of Rwanda.svg APR 62443247139.333 82–86 66–61 70–83
    Source: BAL
    Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
    Notes:
    1. 1 2 Head-to-head: AS Douanes 1–1 US Monastir, AS Douanes won on aggregrate point difference (+1).

    Ranking of third-placed teams

    PosGrpTeamPldWLPFPAPDPCTQualification
    1 Sahara Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir 42227028717.500Advance to playoffs
    2 Kalahari Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 41330534641.250 [lower-alpha 1]
    3 Nile Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui SC 41331736548.250 [lower-alpha 1]
    Source: BAL
    Notes:
    1. 1 2 Cape Town Tigers won the tie-breaker over Bangui SC based on point differential.

    Playoffs

    The playoffs and finals were held from 24 May to 1 June 2024 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. [2] This was the first year in which seeding games are part of the playoffs.

    Three out of four quarterfinal games were won by the lower seeded team. Petro de Luanda became the first team to reach four consecutive semi-finals, while the Al Ahly Ly, the Cape Town Tigers and the Rivers Hoopers made their semi-final debuts and became the first teams from Libya, South Africa and Nigeria, respectively, to qualify for the stage. [75]

    Seeding games

    The seeding games between the eight teams that advanced from the group phase were played on 24 and 25 May. [2] The match-ups were determined based on an aggregate ranking of all teams, with four pairings to decide the final seeds.

    Team 1 Score Team 2
    Al Ahly Flag of Egypt.svg 78–89
    (1st–2nd seed)
    Flag of Morocco.svg FUS Rabat
    Rivers Hoopers Flag of Nigeria.svg 57–63
    (3rd–4th seed)
    Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes
    Petro de Luanda Flag of Angola.svg 67–70
    (5th–6th seed)
    Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir
    Al Ahly Ly Flag of Libya.svg 87–67
    (7th–8th seed)
    Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers

    Bracket

    Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
             
    1 Flag of Morocco.svg FUS Rabat 88
    8 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers (OT) 91
    8 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 86
    6 Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda (OT) 96
    3 Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes 65
    6 Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 66
    6 Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 107
    7 Flag of Libya.svg Al Ahly Ly 94
    2 Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly 77
    7 Flag of Libya.svg Al Ahly Ly 86
    7 Flag of Libya.svg Al Ahly Ly (OT) 89 Third place game
    4 Flag of Nigeria.svg Rivers Hoopers 83
    4 Flag of Nigeria.svg Rivers Hoopers 924 Flag of Nigeria.svg Rivers Hoopers 80
    5 Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir 88 8 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 57

    Individual awards

    The winner of the Coach of the Year award was announced before the third place game on 31 May. Following the final on 1 June, the remainder of the awards were announced. [76] Jo Lual-Acuil became the first player to win both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards, as well as the first player on a losing team to be named MVP. [76]

    Statistics

    Individual statistic leaders

    CategoryPlayerTeam(s)Statistic
    Points per game Jo Lual-Acuil Al Ahly Ly 21.1
    Rebounds per game Khaman Maluach City Oilers 13.5
    Assists per game Chris Crawford US Monastir 9.0
    Steals per game Abdoulaye Harouna AS Douanes 4.0
    Blocks per game Abdou Ndoye Cape Town Tigers 3.5
    Minutes per game Rolly Fula Nganga Bangui SC 37.7
    FG% Aliou Diarra FUS Rabat 66.7%
    3P% Billy Preston Cape Town Tigers50.0%
    FT% Will Perry Rivers Hoopers 91.9%

    Individual game highs

    The league's all-time records for points, rebounds, steals and blocks in a single game were all broken this year.

    CategoryPlayerTeamStatistic
    Points Jo Lual-Acuil Al Ahly Ly 42 (record)
    Rebounds Nkosinathi Sibanyoni Cape Town Tigers 25 (record)
    Assists Chris Crawford US Monastir 14
    Steals Mark Lyons Al Ahly 8 (record)
    Blocks Khaman Maluach City Oilers 7 (record)
    Three pointers Abdoulaye Harouna AS Douanes 8

    Team statistic leaders

    CategoryTeamStatistic
    Points per game Al Ahly Ly 89.3
    Rebounds per game Rivers Hoopers 49.7
    Assists per game Dynamo 21.0
    Steals per gameDynamo12.0
    Blocks per game FUS Rabat 5.5
    Turnovers per gameFUS Rabat16.5
    APR
    Fouls per game Petro de Luanda 20.6
    FG%Dynamo52.2%
    FT% US Monastir 73.0%
    3P%Al Ahly Ly36.6%

    Notes

    1. The qualification rounds began on 3 October 2023 and ended 20 November 2023.
    2. During the 2024 BAL qualification, Al Ahly Ly was officially represented as Al Ahly Benghazi by FIBA.
    3. 1 2 José Neto coached Petro de Luanda during the Kalahari Conference, but was fired on 21 March 2024. [29] Sergio Valdeolmillos was signed as his successor at 28 March 2024. [30]
    4. Ulrich Chomche was initially drafted by APR, however, he was left off the roster as he prepared for the 2024 NBA draft. He was replaced by Mouhamed Camara. [45]

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