2024 BAL season
LeagueBasketball Africa League
Season2024
Dates9 March – 1 June 2024[lower-alpha 1]
Number of games48
Number of teams12

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

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

Al Ahly are the defending champions, having won the previous edition.

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 will 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, will be the fourth arena to host BAL games.[3]

Format changes

The BAL expanded the total games in the season from 38 to 48. In the group phase, there will now be three conferences as the Kalahari Conference will be held in South Africa. The number of teams in the conferences is decreased to four, with all teams playing each other twice. The top two teams and the two best third-placed teams advance to the playoffs. Before the playoffs, the eight teams will play seeding teams to determine their opponents in the single-elimination playoffs. This was the second time the match-ups in the playoffs were determined on seeding, 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 is played in five groups.[4] The final phase of the West Division was organised in Yaoundé for a third time, and Johannesburg hosted the East Division finals once again. Chad was represented for the first time in tournament history.

Teams

Location of teams of the 2024 BAL season main tournament.
Yellow: Savannah Conference; Green: Nile Conference; 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.[5]

APR, Al Ahly Benghazi, Bangui Sporting Club, Dynamo and FUS Rabat will make their BAL debuts. Al Ahly Benghazi, Bangui Sporting Club and Dynamo are the first teams from Libya, the Central African Republic, and Burundi, respectively, to play in the BAL.

Team Method of qualification Date of qualification BAL appearance Previous appearance Consecutive appearances Previous best performance Ref.
Angola Petro de Luanda 2022–23 Angolan League champions 19 April 2023 4th 2023 4 Runners-up (2022) [5]
Egypt Al Ahly 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League champions 15 May 2023 2nd 2023 2 Champions (2023) [6]
Tunisia US Monastir 2022–23 Championnat Pro A champions 27 May 2023 4th 2023 4 Champions (2022) [7]
Rwanda APR 2023 RBL season champions 9 September 2023 1st — 1 — [8]
Senegal AS Douanes 2023 Nationale 1 champions 17 September 2023 3rd 2023 2 Runners-up (2023) [9]
Central African Republic Bangui Sporting Club Road to BAL West Division champions 4 November 2023 1st — 1 — [10]
Morocco FUS Rabat Road to BAL West Division runners-up 4 November 2023 1st — 1 — [11]
Libya Al Ahly Benghazi Road to BAL West Division third place 5 November 2023 1st — 1 — [12]
Uganda City Oilers Road to BAL East Division runners-up 25 November 2023 2nd 2023 2 Group phase (2023) [13]
South Africa Cape Town Tigers Road to BAL East Division champions 25 November 2023 3rd 2023 3 Quarterfinals (2022, 2023) [14]
Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 2023 NBBF Premier League champions 25 November 2023 2nd 2021 1 Group phase (2021) [15]
Burundi Dynamo Road to BAL East Division third place 26 November 2023 1st — 1 — [16]

Personnel

As of 26 November 2023.

Team Head coach Captain
Al Ahly Spain Augustí Julbe[17] Egypt Seif Samir
Al Ahly Benghazi Tunisia Aoun Monaem
APR Jordan Maz Trakh Rwanda Jean Jacques Nshobozwa
AS Douanes Senegal Pabi Guèye Senegal Alkaly Ndour
Bangui Sporting Club Australia Liz Mills Central African Republic Max Kouguère
Cape Town Tigers South Africa Mlungisi Ngwenya
City Oilers Uganda Mandy Juruni
Dynamo Burundi Olivier Ndayiragije Burundi Alvin Ninziza
FUS Rabat Morocco Said El Bouzidi
Petro de Luanda Brazil José Neto[18] Angola Carlos Morais
Rivers Hoopers Nigeria Ogoh Odaudu
US Monastir Serbia Miloš Gligorijević

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 will also have one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the BAL Elevate program.

Team Players Elevate player
1 2 3 4
Al Ahly
Al Ahly Benghazi
APR United States Dario Hunt[19] United States Zion Styles[20]
AS Douanes Niger Abdoulaye Harouna[21]
Bangui Sporting Club
Cape Town Tigers
City Oilers
Dynamo
FUS Rabat
Petro de Luanda
Rivers Hoopers
US Monastir

Notes


    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.[3] A total of 30 players participated under combine director Robert Pack.[3]

    Schedule

    The schedule for the 2024 season was officially released on 5 January 2024.[3]

    Phase Round Draw date Games
    Qualifying rounds

    (Road to BAL)

    		 First Round – 3 – 23 October 2023
    Elite 16 23 October 2023 31 October – 26 November 2023
    Regular season Kalahari Conference – 9 – 17 March 2024
    Nile Conference 19 – 27 April 2024
    Sahara Conference 4 – 12 May 2024
    Seeding games 24 May – 1 June 2024
    Playoffs Quarter-finals
    Semi-finals
    Final and third place

    Group phase

    The group phase will be played between 9 March and 12 May 2024. The 12 teams of the group phase are divided into three conferences. In addition to the Sahara Conference and Nile Conference, the inaugural Kalahari Conference will take place.

    Kalahari Conference

    Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CTT FUS PDL DYN
    1 South Africa Cape Town Tigers (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to playoffs —
    2 Morocco FUS Rabat 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
    3 Angola Petro de Luanda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possibly advance to the playoffs —
    4 Burundi Dynamo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
    First match(es) will be played: 9 March 2024. Source: BAL
    Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
    (H) Hosts

    Nile Conference

    Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ASC AHB COB BSC
    1 Egypt Al Ahly (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to playoffs —
    2 Libya Al Ahly Benghazi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
    3 Uganda City Oilers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possibly advance to the playoffs —
    4 Central African Republic Bangui Sporting Club 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
    First match(es) will be played: 19 April 2024. Source: BAL
    Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
    (H) Hosts

    Sahara Conference

    Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ASD APR USM RIV
    1 Senegal AS Douanes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to playoffs —
    2 Rwanda APR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
    3 Tunisia US Monastir 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possibly advance to the playoffs —
    4 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
    First match(es) will be played: 4 May 2024. Source: BAL
    Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

    Ranking of third-placed teams

    Pos Grp Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
    1 Kalahari Kalahari Conference third-ranked team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to playoffs
    2 Nile Nile Conference third-ranked team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    3 Sahara Sahara Conference third-ranked team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Source: BAL

    Seeding games

    The seeding games between the eight teams that advanced from the group phase, will be held on 24 May in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.[2] This is the first year in which seeding games are played.

    Playoffs

    The playoffs and finals will be held from 24 May to 1 June 2024 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.[2]

    Notes

    1. ↑ The qualification rounds began on 3 October 2023 and ended 20 November 2023.

    References

    1. 1 2 "Basketball Africa League and Rwanda Development Board announce multi-year extension to play BAL games in Kigali". NBA.com: NBA Communications. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
    2. 1 2 3 4 "BAL Expands to South Africa for Fourth Season tipping off in March 2024". The BAL. 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
    3. 1 2 3 4 "Basketball Africa League announces host cities, venues and dates for 2024 regular season tipping off March 9 in Pretoria, South Africa". NBA.com. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
    4. ↑ "Schedule and venues confirmed for the 2023 Road to BAL". FIBA.basketball. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
    5. 1 2 da Silva, Juscelino (20 April 2023). "Petro de Luanda conquista 16º título". Jornal de Angola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 April 2023.
    6. ↑ "الخطيب يهنئ لاعبي السلة وجهازهم الفني والإداري والطبي ببطولة دوري السوبر". Al Ahly (in Arabic). 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
    7. ↑ "African Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
    8. ↑
    9. ↑ "Championne du Sénégal après son succès sur la JA (64-56), l'AS Douanes retourne à la BAL !". Basketsenegal (in French). 17 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
    10. ↑ "Bangui stun star-studded Benghazi to book first-ever BAL ticket". FIBA.basketball. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
    11. ↑ "FUS Rabat clinch BAL ticket". FIBA.basketball. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
    12. ↑ "Al Ahly Benghazi pick last ticket from the West Division to the BAL 2024 season". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
    13. ↑ "City Oilers first team to book 2024 BAL slot in Joburg". FIBA.basketball. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
    14. ↑ "Nkosinathi Sibanyoni powers Cape Town Tigers to 2024 BAL". FIBA.basketball. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
    15. ↑ Busari, Niyi. "Rivers Hoopers Crowned NBBF Final 4 Champions, Pick BAL Ticket". BSN Sports. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
    16. ↑ "Dynamo outlast COSPN, secure last BAL ticket". FIBA.basketball. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
    17. ↑ "Al Ahly Extend Augustí's Contract For 2 More Years". Al Ahly. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
    18. ↑ "José Neto renova contrato com o Petro de Luanda". Databasket (in Brazilian Portuguese). 6 August 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
    19. ↑ Sikubwabo, Damas (4 January 2024). "APR sign American center Dario Hunt ahead of BAL". The New Times. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
    20. ↑ Sikubwabo, Damas (6 December 2023). "American guard Zion Styles joins APR ahead of BAL 2024". The New Times. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
    21. ↑ "Abdoulaye Harouna (@aharouan30)". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
    22. ↑ "What can happen on the last day of the 2023 Sahara Conference?". The BAL. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
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