Bangui Sporting Club

     Head coachFrançois EnyengueChampionships2 (2022, 2023)Websitebanguisportinclub.com

Bangui Sporting Club, also known as Bangui SC, is a Central African basketball team based in Bangui. The team plays in the Bangui Basketball League (LBBB) and has won the championship in 2022 and 2023.^[1] In the 2024 season, Bangui will play in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), as the first team from the Central African Republic in the competition.

History

The club was founded in 2017 as GIBA-BCAGS,^[2] by former national team player Cyrille Damango. The team entered the Bangui Basketball League (LBBB) after its establishment, and finished as runners-up in 2021, losing to Tondema In the final.^[3] The team changed its name to Bangui Sporting Club on 4 April 2022.

Following their 2022 national championship, Sporting represented the Central African Republic in the 2023 BAL qualification,^[4] and its roster featured national team players Max Kouguere and Steven-Emile Perriere, as well as Rwandan guard Kenny Gasana and center Kendall Gray.^[5] Sporting narrowly missed out on a place in the BAL, after losing the third place game to Stade Malien.

They repeated as LBBB champions in 2023 after defeating New Tech Bantou in the finals, with national team players Evans Ganapamo and Max Kouguere on the roster.^[6] Before the beginning of the Road to BAL, Sporting hired Liz Mills as their new head coach.^[7] Bangui had a successful run which was highlighted by their 4 November semi-final win over Al Ahly Benghazi, which sealed their qualification to the 2024 BAL season. Thus, Bangui Sporting Club became the first team from the Central African Republic to qualify for the BAL.^[8] and winning the West Division title after beating FUS Rabat in the final on 5 November.^[9]

Following financial issues of the organization ahead of the BAL, Bangui struggled to pay its players after the successful Road to BAL campaign and coach Mills did not re-sign.^[10] In March, Bangui appointed Justin Serresse as their new head coach,^[11] before leaving the team over payment disputes as well.^[10]

Honours

Bangui Basketball League

• Champions (2): 2022, 2023
  • Runners-up (1): 2021

Road to BAL

• West Division Champions (1): 2023

Players

Current roster

The following is the Bangui Sporting Club roster for the 2024 BAL qualification:

Bangui Sporting Club roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age F 1 Ganapamo, Evans 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 29 – (1994-08-19)19 August 1994 F 2 Kottaud, Jordao 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 30 – (1994-01-08)8 January 1994 PG 4 Johnson, Bijan 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1996-02-23)23 February 1996 PF 7 Higgins-Titsha, Alex 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 23 – (2000-07-12)12 July 2000 G 8 Kamayengue, Yasser 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 19 – (2005-04-16)16 April 2005 SG 10 Nambaï, Metson 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 29 – (1995-02-27)27 February 1995 F 14 Dondon, Elisée 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1998-06-29)29 June 1998 F 15 Fula Nganga, Rolly 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 31 – (1993-02-02)2 February 1993 F 22 Kouguère, Max 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 37 – (1987-03-12)12 March 1987 PF 24 Malou, Emmanuel 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 30 – (1993-11-03)3 November 1993 C 35 Djimrabaye, Jimmy 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 32 – (1992-04-08)8 April 1992 PF 84 Ngaïfei, Omega 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 22 – (2001-05-14)14 May 2001	Head coach Liz Mills Assistant coach(es) Jeff Sparrow Ulrich Marida Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 4 November 2023

Notable players

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Kenny Gasana
• Kendall Gray
• Max Kouguère
• Jimmy Djimrabaye
• Rolly Fula Nganga

Head coaches

• Alpha Mane: (2022)
• Liz Mills: (2023)^[7]
• François Enyengue: (2024–present)

References