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Urunani
Urunani logo
NicknameSisi Wenyewe
LeagueViva Basketball League
BAL Qualifying Tournaments
Founded1979
HistoryUrunani BBC
1979–present
LocationBujumbura, Burundi
PresidentNkonyereza Aimé
Vice-president(s)Uwintwari Lionel «Radja»
Head coachPabi Guèye
Retired numbers1 (8)
Websitewww.urunani.com

Urunani BBC is a Burundian basketball club based in Bujumbura. Nicknamed "Sisi Wenyewe", the team plays in the Viva Basketball League (VBL).

Since 1979, Urunani has won more than 17 national championships of Burundi (some years the national championship was not held for several reasons).

History

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The name Urunani means "being together, a strong and indestructible network".[1] The club played in the Basketball Championship Amateurs de Bujumbura (ACBAB) for the first time in 1979.

Urunani BBC has already won three international competitions organized by the FIBA Zone 5. The club also played in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

At mid-2021, Urunani reached an agreement with the ugandan club, City Oilers to bring back home Landry Ndikumana, and the rwandan club Tigers for Malick Ngenzahayo. It’s at the end of 2021 that Urunani have completed the signing of Guibert Nijimbere from Patriots. Ahead of the VBL 2022, the team acquired 5 international players from Uganda (Peter Obleng), South-Sudan (Peter Cheng Maleck), DRC (Michael Bwanga), Kenya (Paul Ereng Ekiru) and Nigeria (Njoku Joseph Chibuzo). With its strengthened roster, Urunani(17 wins/1 loss) managed to become the Burundian Champions and claimed a spot in the 2023 BAL Qualifiers. The team became the first-ever team from Burundi to win a semi-professional league : the Viva Basketball League in his first edition.

One of the notable players of Urunani, Elvis "Gafyisi" Hakizimana, wore number 8 during 20 seasons. On 24 January 2022, Gafyisi's jersey number was retired at the Terrain Département. On 26 January, Urunani signed Hakizimana as their new assistant coach.

In 2024, they won another national championship after defeating Dynamo in seven games in the finals, behind MVP Jean Jacques Boissy.[2] Urunani hired Pabi Guèye, a former BAL Coach of the Year, to lead the team in the Road to BAL.[3]

Honours

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Burundian Basketball Championship

  • Champions (17+): 2010,[4] 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,[4] 2016, 2022, 2024[2]

President's Cup

  • Winners (1+): 2015[4]

Heroes' Cup

  • Winners (3): 2019, 2021, 2022

Burundian Super Cup

  • Winners (1): 2020

ACBAB

  • Champions (3+): 2015,[4] 2016,[4] 2017

FIBA Africa Zone 5 Champions

  • Winners (3): 2011, 2013, 2014

In African competitions

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FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup

  • 2011 – Regular Season
  • 2013 – Regular Season
  • 2014 – Regular Season

Players

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Main category: Urunani BBC players

2022 roster

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Urunani roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 0 Burundi Ngenzahayo, Malick 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 28 – (1996-10-21)21 October 1996
G 4 Rwanda Filer, Adonis 31 – (1993-07-11)11 July 1993
6 Burundi Akimana, Jambon Landry 31 – (1993-06-26)26 June 1993
PG 7 Burundi Irakoze Kavakure, Brian 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 31 – (1993-09-18)18 September 1993
SF 12 Burundi Ndikumana, Landry 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 29 – (1995-02-14)14 February 1995
C 21 Burundi Ndagijimana, Oly Mogard 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 25 – (1999-09-30)30 September 1999
23 Burundi Ndikuriyo, Bienvenu Richard 27 – (1997-05-15)15 May 1997
PG 24 Burundi Nsengiyumva, Yves 21 – (2003-05-15)15 May 2003
C 32 Ivory Coast Adjehi, Baru 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 33 – (1991-10-12)12 October 1991
C 44 Puerto Rico Parker, Timajh 2.032 m (6 ft 8.0 in) 30 – (1994-02-09)9 February 1994
88 Democratic Republic of the Congo Kazunguzibwa, Michael 30 – (1993-11-27)27 November 1993
PG 95 Burundi Nijimbere, Guibert 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 29 – (1995-01-01)1 January 1995
Head coach

Aaron Kagabo

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

Notable players

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

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.

Head coaches

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References

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  1. ^ "A Propos - Urunani Basketball Club". Urunani (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Game 7 décisif : Urunani détrône Dynamo et remporte la VBL 2024 – IWACU". www.iwacu-burundi.org. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  3. ^ a b "Burundi – Road to BAL : Coach Pabi Guèye rejoint Urunani BBC". Senego.com - Actualité au Sénégal (in French). 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Meneur Archives". Urunani (in French). Retrieved 2024-10-01.
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