20th Edition Of Basketball Without Borders Africa Camp Concluded

Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa 2024 concluded on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) in South Africa, where 60 boys and girls returned to the final day to participate in a Q&A panel with current and former NBA and WNBA players, three-point contest, semifinals and championship games.
 
The basketball action tipped off with semifinals, followed by the championship games between girls’ teams Aces and Liberty, with eventual winners Aces coached by Portland Trail Blazers Assistant Video Coordinator, Ikenna Smart, claiming the bragging rights, while for the boys, the Hawks, coached by Assistant Coach for the Atlanta Hawks Ekpe Udoh and Bruno Fernando (Toronto Raptors) beat the Celtics, coached by three-time NBA player champion Sam Cassell and 2022 NBA champion Moses Moody.

The camp concluded with an awards ceremony, which saw the girl’s Haya El Halawany (Egypt) and boys’ Mohamed Wael Shahin (Egypt) awarded the Kim Bohuny Camp Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Ana Servico (Angola) and NBA Academy Africa’s David Ugonna Ike (Nigeria) were named Defensive MVPs for the girls and boys, respectively.

The Patrick Baumann Sportsmanship Award was awarded to Nissi Mayaka (Kenya) and Demasio Dieu Bona Bang (South Sudan), while the B.J. Johnson Most Improved Player Award went to Souad Garna (Tunisia) and Chidalu David Ajala (Nigeria).  The Three-Point Champions were once again the Egyptian pair of El Halawany (girls) and Shahin (boys).

In addition to all the basketball action, the BWB Africa 2024 camp included various activities off the court, including Toronto Raptors’ Immanuel Quickley’s visit to NBA Store at Sandton City Mall in Johannesburg and a Her Time in a ‘Her Time To Play’ seminar, a WNBA’s initiative dedicated to championing change on behalf of girls and women and providing them with ways to connect, collaborate, and actively engage with basketball and one another.  As part of “Her Time To Play”, the female campers were engaged in team building exercises, leadership and self-awareness sessions, and engaged with a leadership panel featuring two-time WNBA champion Sylvia Fowles and WNBA Golden State Valkyries’ General Manager Oheema Nyanin.

On Monday, Aug. 5, NBA and WNBA executives along with the camp coaches comprising of WNBA and NBA former and current players and coaches, took part in an NBA Cares’ community outreach at South African NGO Rhiza Babuyile’s Farm in Dieplsoot, Johannesburg.  As part of the community engagement, NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi announced the league’s R920,000 donation towards Rhiza Babuyile’s mobile clinic which will service Diepsloot and other communities in the region.

BWB Africa 2024 Girls’ All-Star Team:
Ana Servico (Angola)
Aline Suzy Esther Nyeck (Cameroon)
Traidah Matongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Haya El Halawany (Egypt)
Sarah Aaliyah Mellouck (Morocco)
Fatou Kine Diop (Senegal)
Ines Ben Rejeb (Tunisia)
Cholwe Simubali (Zambia)

BWB Africa 2024 Boys’ All-Star Team:
Mohamed Wael Shahin (Egypt)
Ali Mohamed Assran (Egypt)
Mohamed Sangare (Mali)
David Ugonna Ike (Nigeria)
Tejan Joel Rugette (Uganda)
Cheikh Bamba Thiam (Senegal)
Cheikh Biteye (Senegal)
Ahmed Bedoui (Tunisia)