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 coachKagabo Aaron
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 15 titles of national champions of Burundi (some years the national championship was not held for several reasons).

History

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 Hakizimana aka Gafyisi, wore No 8 during 20 seasons. On January 24, 2022, Gafyisi retired, and Urunani retired number 8 during an emotional pregame ceremony at «Terrain Département». On 26 January , Urunani signed Elvis Hakizimana as their new assistant-coach.

Honours

Burundian Basketball Championship

  • Burundi Champions (15): ?, ?, ?, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2022

Heroes Cup

  • Winners (?): 2019, 2021, 2022

Burundian Super Cup

  • Winners (?): 2020

ACBAB

  • Champions (?): 2017

FIBA Africa Zone 5 Champions

  • Winners (3): 2011, 2013, 2014

In African competitions

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup

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

Players

2022 roster

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

Urunani roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
G 0 Burundi Ngenzahayo, Malick 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 27 – (1996-10-21)21 October 1996
G 4 Rwanda Filer, Adonis 30 – (1993-07-11)11 July 1993
6 Burundi Akimana, Jambon Landry 30 – (1993-06-26)26 June 1993
PG 7 Burundi Irakoze Kavakure, Brian 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 30 – (1993-09-18)18 September 1993
SF 12 Burundi Ndikumana, Landry 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 28 – (1995-02-14)14 February 1995
C 21 Burundi Ndagijimana, Oly Mogard 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 24 – (1999-09-30)30 September 1999
23 Burundi Ndikuriyo, Bienvenu Richard 26 – (1997-05-15)15 May 1997
PG 24 Burundi Nsengiyumva, Yves 20 – (2003-05-15)15 May 2003
C 32 Ivory Coast Adjehi, Baru 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 32 – (1991-10-12)12 October 1991
C 44 Puerto Rico Parker, Timajh 2.032 m (6 ft 8.0 in) 29 – (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

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality 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.

References

  1. ↑ "A Propos - Urunani Basketball Club". Urunani (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2021.


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