# 2024 BAL season

The 2024 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 4, was the 4th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 9 March 2024 and ended with the final on 1 June 2024, which was played in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for a fourth consecutive season.
This season the league was expanded to 48 games, and from two conferences to three conferences, as South Africa hosted the inaugural Kalahari Conference.
Al Ahly were the defending champions, having won the previous edition, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Al Ahly Ly. Petro de Luanda from Angola won their first BAL championship after defeating Al Ahly Ly from Libya in the final. As winners, Petro de Luanda, earned the right to play in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

## 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 was to host the playoffs and finals in the 2024, 2026 and 2028 seasons.
On 5 January 2024, the host venues and schedule were announced. The SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, was the fourth arena to host BAL games.

## Format changes

The BAL expanded the total games in the season from 38 to 48. In the group phase, there were three conferences as the Kalahari Conference was added to the already existing Nile Conference and Sahara Conference. The number of teams in the conferences was decreased to four, with all teams playing each other twice. The top two teams and the two best third-placed teams advanced to the playoffs. Before the playoffs, the eight teams played seeding teams to determine their opponents in the single-elimination playoffs. This was the second time the match-ups in the playoffs were determined by seeding, with teams ranked 1 to 8, as this was last done in the inaugural season.

## 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 was played in five groups. The final phase of the West Division was organised in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for a third time. Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted the East Division finals once again.
Chad was represented for the first time in tournament history, by Lamantins, however, the team forfeited during halftime of their first game.

## Teams

Petro de Luanda were the first team to qualify, as they won the 2022–23 Angolan Basketball League on 19 April 2023.
APR, Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club, Dynamo and FUS Rabat made their league debuts. Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club and Dynamo were 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 |
| Petro de Luanda | 2022–23 Angolan League champions | 19 April 2023 | 4th | 2023 | 4 | Runners-up (2022) |
| Al Ahly | 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League champions | 15 May 2023 | 2nd | 2023 | 2 | Champions (2023) |
| US Monastir | 2022–23 Championnat Pro A champions | 27 May 2023 | 4th | 2023 | 4 | Champions (2022) |
| APR | 2023 RBL season champions | 9 September 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — |
| AS Douanes | 2023 Nationale 1 champions | 17 September 2023 | 3rd | 2023 | 2 | Runners-up (2023) |
| Bangui Sporting Club | Road to BAL West Division champions | 4 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — |
| FUS Rabat | Road to BAL West Division runners-up | 4 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — |
| Al Ahly Ly | Road to BAL West Division third place | 5 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — |
| City Oilers | Road to BAL East Division runners-up | 25 November 2023 | 2nd | 2023 | 2 | Group phase (2023) |
| Cape Town Tigers | Road to BAL East Division champions | 25 November 2023 | 3rd | 2023 | 3 | Quarterfinals (2022, 2023) |
| Rivers Hoopers | 2023 NBBF Premier League champions | 25 November 2023 | 2nd | 2021 | 1 | Group phase (2021) |
| Dynamo | Road to BAL East Division third place | 26 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — |

### Personnel

| Team | Head coach | Captain |
| Al Ahly | Augustí Julbe | Seif Samir |
| Al Ahly Ly | Ivan Jeremić | Sofian Hamad |
| APR | Maz Trakh | Jean Jacques Nshobozwa |
| AS Douanes | Pabi Guèye | Alkaly Ndour |
| Bangui Sporting Club | François Enyengue | Jimmy Djimrabaye |
| Cape Town Tigers | Mlungisi Ngwenya | Lebesa Selepe |
| City Oilers | Nesba Karim | James Okello |
| Dynamo | Julien Chaignot | Bryton Hobbs |
| FUS Rabat | Said El Bouzidi | Abdelhakim Zouita |
| Petro de Luanda | José Neto (Conference Stage) | Carlos Morais |
| Petro de Luanda | Sergio Valdeolmillos (Playoffs) | Carlos Morais |
| Rivers Hoopers | Ogoh Odaudu | Victor Anthony Koko |
| US Monastir | Mohamed El Kardani | Mokhtar Ghyaza |

### 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 had one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the "BAL Elevate" program. This year the league allocated the players to teams, a switch from the draft system used in the previous seasons. Players were allocated based on the following criteria, in order: "country of birth, country of nationality, country where majority of life was spent, past BAL team, country of past BAL team."
| Team | Players | Players | Players | Players | Players | Elevate player |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Elevate player |
| Al Ahly | Prince Ali | Tony Mitchell | Mark Lyons | | | Seifeldin Hendawy |
| Al Ahly Ly | Jo Lual-Acuil | Pierre Jackson^ | Kevin Murphy | Majok Deng | Solo Diabate | Assane Mandian |
| APR | Dario Hunt | Obadiah Noel | Abdullah Ahmed | Tom Wamukota | | Mouhamed Camara |
| AS Douanes | Abdoulaye Harouna | Mike Fofana | Chris Obekpa | Ifeanyichukwu Ochereobia | Madut Akec | Khadim Mboup |
| Bangui Sporting Club | Rolly Fula Nganga | Curtis Hollis | Moses Bol | Emeka Nwabuzor | Nyang Wek | Ahmed Abouelela |
| Cape Town Tigers | Cartier Diarra | Billy Preston | Ngor Manyang | Mouhamadou Ndoye | Dhieu Deing* | Yakhya Diop |
| City Oilers | Patrick Rembert | Dane Miller Jr. | Randy Culpepper | Bashir Ahmed | | Khaman Maluach |
| Dynamo | Dhieu Deing | Morakinyo Williams | Bryton Hobbs | Makhtar Gueye | Israel Otobo | Mohamed Camara |
| FUS Rabat | Aliou Diarra | Ken Brown | John Jordan | Ayoub Nouhi | Yacine Baeri | Mohamed Sylla |
| Petro de Luanda | Markeith Cummings | Anthony Nelson^ | Nick Faust | | | Aginaldo Neto |
| Rivers Hoopers | Will Perry | John Wilkins | | | | David Ugonna |
| US Monastir | Ater Majok | Sadio Doucouré | Chris Crawford | George Williams | Avry Holmes* | Ahmed Bedoui |
Notes: * Playoffs only. ^ Player left the team after the conference phase.

## 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. A total of 30 players participated under combine director Robert Pack.

## Schedule

The schedule for the 2024 season was officially released on 5 January 2024.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | Games |
| Qualifying rounds (Road to BAL) | First Round | – | 3 – 23 October 2023 |
| Qualifying rounds (Road to BAL) | Elite 16 | 23 October 2023 | 31 October – 26 November 2023 |
| Regular season | Kalahari Conference | – | 9 – 17 March 2024 |
| Regular season | Nile Conference | – | 19 – 27 April 2024 |
| Regular season | Sahara Conference | – | 4 – 12 May 2024 |
| Seeding games | Seeding games | – | 24 May – 1 June 2024 |
| Playoffs | Quarter-finals | – | 24 May – 1 June 2024 |
| Playoffs | Semi-finals | – | 24 May – 1 June 2024 |
| Playoffs | Final and third place | – | 24 May – 1 June 2024 |

## Conference phase

The conference phase was played between 9 March and 12 May 2024. The 12 teams of the conference phase were divided into three conferences. In addition to the Sahara Conference and Nile Conference, the inaugural Kalahari Conference took place.

### Tiebreakers

The ranking of teams in the regular season was determined as follows:
* Win-loss record;
* Head-to-head record;
* Point differential in the games between the respective teams;
* Number of points scored in the games between the respective teams;
* Average point differential in all games against other teams in the Conference;
* Average number of points scored in all games played against other teams in the Conference;
* Drawing.

### Kalahari Conference

The Kalahari Conference games began on 9 March and ended on 17 March 2024 and were played at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa. In the opening day game between Burundi's Dynamo and South Africa's Cape Town Tigers, the Burundian side taped off the logo of league sponsor Visit Rwanda. Political tensions between the two border nations Burundi and Rwanda had been rising, as Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel militia in the country. Dynamo forfeited their second game against FUS Rabat on 10 March, with the BAL citing "refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements" as the reason why. Following Dynamo's second forfeit on 12 March, the team was automatically withdrawn from the group as per FIBA rules. Dynamo players Bryton Hobbs and Makhtar Gueye stated that the Burundian government had prohibited the team to wear the logo and ordered the club to forfeit its games if necessary.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | FUS | PDL | CTT | DBC |
| 1 | FUS Rabat | 4 | 3 | 1 | 363 | 295 | +68 | .750 | Advance to playoffs | — | 86–89 | 84–78 | 20–0 |
| 2 | Petro de Luanda | 4 | 2 | 2 | 360 | 340 | +20 | .500 | Advance to playoffs | 73–82 | — | 100–88 | Canc. |
| 3 | Cape Town Tigers (H) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 305 | 346 | −41 | .250 | Advance to playoffs | 58–84 | 84–78 | — | 73–86 |
| 4 | Dynamo (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Withdrew | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |

### Nile Conference

Defending champions Al Ahly captured its first Nile Conference title, despite surprisingly losing one game to lower-ranked City Oilers. Al Ahly Ly edged out Bangui SC for the second place, winning the tiebreaker on head-to-head performance. City Oilers center Khaman Maluach, only 17 at the time, impressed by leading the league and blocks.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | ASC | AAL | BSC | COB |
| 1 | Al Ahly (H) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 544 | 470 | +74 | .833 | Advance to playoffs | — | 98–88 | 94–71 | 99–76 |
| 2 | Al Ahly Ly | 6 | 3 | 3 | 537 | 498 | +39 | .500 | Advance to playoffs | 76–87 | — | 93–71 | 110–78 |
| 3 | Bangui SC | 6 | 3 | 3 | 509 | 529 | −20 | .500 | | 79–85 | 96–93 | — | 101–88 |
| 4 | City Oilers | 6 | 1 | 5 | 468 | 561 | −93 | .167 | | 82–81 | 68–79 | 76–91 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head: Al Ahly Ly and Bangui SC were tied 1–1 in their games, +19 point differential for Al Ahly Ly over these two games.

### Sahara Conference

The Rivers Hoopers clinched the Sahara Conference title and qualified for their first playoff appearance, after having missed out in 2021. AS Douanes took the second place, while US Monastir advanced as one of the best-ranked third place teams. APR was eliminated after a loss to Douanes on the final gameday, becoming the first Rwandan team to fail to qualify for the playoffs.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | RIV | ASD | USM | APR |
| 1 | Rivers Hoopers | 6 | 4 | 2 | 441 | 413 | +28 | .667 | Advance to playoffs | — | 54–56 | 62–73 | 78–71 |
| 2 | AS Douanes | 6 | 3 | 3 | 409 | 385 | +24 | .500 | Advance to playoffs | 68–77 | — | 76–59 | 79–54 |
| 3 | US Monastir | 6 | 3 | 3 | 437 | 450 | −13 | .500 | Advance to playoffs | 63–84 | 75–69 | — | 84–89 |
| 4 | APR | 6 | 2 | 4 | 432 | 471 | −39 | .333 | | 82–86 | 66–61 | 70–83 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head: AS Douanes 1–1 US Monastir, AS Douanes won on aggregrate point difference (+1).

### Ranking of third-placed teams

| Pos | Grp | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Sahara | US Monastir | 4 | 2 | 2 | 270 | 287 | −17 | .500 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Kalahari | Cape Town Tigers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 305 | 346 | −41 | .250 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | Nile | Bangui SC | 4 | 1 | 3 | 317 | 365 | −48 | .250 | |
* 1 2 Cape Town Tigers won the tie-breaker over Bangui SC based on point differential.

## Playoffs

The playoffs and finals were held from 24 May to 1 June 2024 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. This was the first year in which seeding games are part of the playoffs.
Three out of four quarterfinal games were won by the lower seeded team. Petro de Luanda became the first team to reach four consecutive semi-finals, while the Al Ahly Ly, the Cape Town Tigers and the Rivers Hoopers made their semi-final debuts and became the first teams from Libya, South Africa and Nigeria, respectively, to qualify for the stage.

### Seeding games

The seeding games between the eight teams that advanced from the group phase were played on 24 and 25 May. The match-ups were determined based on an aggregate ranking of all teams, with four pairings to decide the final seeds.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Al Ahly | 78–89 (1st–2nd seed) | FUS Rabat |
| Rivers Hoopers | 57–63 (3rd–4th seed) | AS Douanes |
| Petro de Luanda | 67–70 (5th–6th seed) | US Monastir |
| Al Ahly Ly | 87–67 (7th–8th seed) | Cape Town Tigers |

### Bracket

| 1st–2nd seed game | 1st–2nd seed game | 1st–2nd seed game |
| 1 | Al Ahly | 78 |
| 2 | FUS Rabat | 89 |
| 3rd–4th seed game | 3rd–4th seed game | 3rd–4th seed game |
| 3 | Rivers Hoopers | 57 |
| 4 | AS Douanes | 63 |
| 5th–6th seed game | 5th–6th seed game | 5th–6th seed game |
| 5 | Petro de Luanda | 67 |
| 6 | US Monastir | 70 |
| 7th–8th seed game | 7th–8th seed game | 7th–8th seed game |
| 7 | Al Ahly Ly | 87 |
| 8 | Cape Town Tigers | 67 |
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | FUS Rabat | 88 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Cape Town Tigers (OT) | 91 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Cape Town Tigers (OT) | 91 | 8 | Cape Town Tigers | 86 | | | |
| | | | 6 | Petro de Luanda (OT) | 96 | | | |
| 3 | AS Douanes | 65 | 6 | Petro de Luanda (OT) | 96 | | | |
| 6 | Petro de Luanda | 66 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Petro de Luanda | 66 | | | | 6 | Petro de Luanda | 107 |
| | | | | | | 7 | Al Ahly Ly | 94 |
| 2 | Al Ahly | 77 | | | | | | | 7 | Al Ahly Ly | 94 |
| 7 | Al Ahly Ly | 86 | | | |
| 7 | Al Ahly Ly | 86 | 7 | Al Ahly Ly (OT) | 89 | Third place game | Third place game | Third place game |
| | | | 4 | Rivers Hoopers | 83 |
| 4 | Rivers Hoopers | 92 | 4 | Rivers Hoopers | 83 | 4 | Rivers Hoopers | 80 |
| 5 | US Monastir | 88 | | | | 8 | Cape Town Tigers | 57 |

## Individual awards

The winner of the Coach of the Year award was announced before the third place game on 31 May. Following the final on 1 June, the remainder of the awards were announced. Jo Lual-Acuil became the first player to win both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards, as well as the first player on a losing team to be named MVP.
* Most Valuable Player: Jo Lual-Acuil, Al Ahly Ly
* Defensive Player of the Year: Jo Lual-Acuil, Al Ahly Ly
* Coach of the Year: Ogoh Odaudu, Rivers Hoopers
* Sportsmanship Award: Will Perry, Rivers Hoopers
* Ubuntu Award: TBA

## Statistics
### Individual statistic leaders

| Category | Player | Team(s) | Statistic |
| Points per game | Jo Lual-Acuil | Al Ahly Ly | 21.1 |
| Rebounds per game | Khaman Maluach | City Oilers | 13.5 |
| Assists per game | Chris Crawford | US Monastir | 9.0 |
| Steals per game | Abdoulaye Harouna | AS Douanes | 4.0 |
| Blocks per game | Abdou Ndoye | Cape Town Tigers | 3.5 |
| Minutes per game | Rolly Fula Nganga | Bangui SC | 37.7 |
| FG% | Aliou Diarra | FUS Rabat | 66.7% |
| 3P% | Billy Preston | Cape Town Tigers | 50.0% |
| FT% | Will Perry | Rivers Hoopers | 91.9% |

### Individual game highs

The league's all-time records for points, rebounds, steals and blocks in a single game were all broken this year.
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
| Points | Jo Lual-Acuil | Al Ahly Ly | 42 (record) |
| Rebounds | Nkosinathi Sibanyoni | Cape Town Tigers | 25 (record) |
| Assists | Chris Crawford | US Monastir | 14 |
| Steals | Mark Lyons | Al Ahly | 8 (record) |
| Blocks | Khaman Maluach | City Oilers | 7 (record) |
| Three pointers | Abdoulaye Harouna | AS Douanes | 8 |

### Team statistic leaders

| Category | Team | Statistic |
| Points per game | Al Ahly Ly | 89.3 |
| Rebounds per game | Rivers Hoopers | 49.7 |
| Assists per game | Dynamo | 21.0 |
| Steals per game | Dynamo | 12.0 |
| Blocks per game | FUS Rabat | 5.5 |
| Turnovers per game | FUS Rabat | 16.5 |
| Turnovers per game | APR | 16.5 |
| Fouls per game | Petro de Luanda | 20.6 |
| FG% | Dynamo | 52.2% |
| FT% | US Monastir | 73.0% |
| 3P% | Al Ahly Ly | 36.6% |