Last month, Senegalese basketball coach Cheikh Sarr named the provisional squad for the national basketball team that is gearing up for the Afrobasket competition that will take place from August 24 to September 5 in Kigali.
The 16-man squad includes two players that have been summoned for the first time: Armel Sangwe who features for APR Basketball Club, and William Robeyns, a Belgium-based player.
The two players are already in camp, and will be hoping to be selected as part of the final squad that will take part in the Afrobasket tournament.
In this article, Times Sport looks at the two new players, and who they are.
William Robeyns
Robeyns was born on February 23, 1996, in Verviers – Belgium, to a Rwandan mother and a Belgian father.
He is a citizen of both Belgium and Rwanda, and is a professional basketball player who has featured for teams like Phoenix Brussels and Liege in Belgium.
The 25-year-old plays as a power-forward.
He is a talented player who can both shoot and create assists. According to some statistics, by May 2021, Robeyns had averaged 8.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 20 minutes in the 2020/21 season.
Armel Sangwe
Burundi-born shooting guard, Armel Sangwe also got a first call up to Rwanda’s national team.
The 21-year-old is a known player in the local basketball circles. He currently features for APR Basketball Club, but previously played for Espoir.
Sangwe can be remembered for a stunning career-high 35 points he recorded in January 2018 in a game where Espoir defeated Rwanda Energy Group 100-77 in the local league.
Sangwe was named the best young player of the season by Rwanda Basketball Federation and claimed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in FEASSSA Games held in August 2017 in Gulu, Uganda.