Rivers State governor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has rewarded the state’s basketball team Rivers Hoopers with N50 million following their emergence as champions of the 2023 Nigeria Premier Basketball League.

Rivers Hoopers defeated Nigeria Customs 77-57 in the final game of the Final Four held at the indoor Basketball Court in Port Harcourt last November, a fifth consecutive championship win for the King’s Men. 

Governor Fubara has pledged to continue his support for the team. “Today, you have brought a national trophy. So, when people say or talk behind us to ask what we are doing, we are achieving those things that are not, maybe, seen physically but they give joy and fulfillment.

“If we have not encouraged you in a way that motivated you, you won’t be where you are. So, it is part of purposeful governance and administrative efficiency.”

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The championship victory will see the Hoopers represent Nigeria at the forthcoming Basketball Africa League (BAL). Hoopers will play in the Sahara Conference whose group phase will take place from Saturday, May 4 to Sunday, May 12 at the Dakar Arena in Dakar.

They’ll face Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball (APR; Rwanda), AS Douanes (Senegal), and US Monastir (Tunisia) in the group phase.

The Port Harcourt-based team will be hoping to perform better than they did in the last campaign and finish as one of the best two teams in the group which will automatically qualify for an eight-game, single-elimination Playoffs and Finals from Friday, May 24 – Saturday, June 1.