# Rivers Hoopers

Rivers Hoopers is a Nigerian professional basketball team based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The team plays in the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) and currently in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Established in 2005 as Royal Hoopers, the team began to play in the NPL in 2019 and changed to their current name after the management of the team was taken over by the Government of Rivers State. The Hoopers have played in the Premier League since its inception and won the national championship six times, with titles in 2011, 2012, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
At the continental level, Rivers Hoopers has played in the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup three times, and has played in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) thrice, in the 2021, 2024 and 2025 seasons.

## History

The club was established in 2005 as Royal Hoopers, with former Nigeria national team player Ogoh Odaudu at the reins as head coach. In the club's first four years, they organised annual "classics" tournaments. The Hoopers entered the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) in 2009.
The Hoopers won their first NPL championship in 2011. They repeated as champions in 2012, behind star player Azuoma Dike who was named the league's MVP.
Following one year in the Division One that was followed by a promotion back to the NPL, management of the team was taken over by the Government of Rivers State in March 2016, and subsequently the team name was changed to Rivers Hoopers.
In December 2018, Hoopers played in the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Championship and won all five games to emerge as its Champions and went on to play in the 2019 Africa Basketball League in March. On 17 November 2019, the Hoopers won its third Nigerian title when it beat Raptors in the final. With this achievement, the team qualified directly for the inaugural season of Basketball Africa League (BAL).
To strengthen the team for the inaugural BAL season, the Hoopers acquired former NBA-players Ben Uzoh and Festus Ezeli. Ezeli, however, got injured before the season and did not join. Hoopers finished third in Group A of the BAL, beating only GNBC from Madagascar. Uzoh led the team in scoring with 14.7 points.
In the 2021 season, the Hoopers won the Premier League for a fourth time after edging Gombe Bulls in the final. Anaiye Johnson was named the league's MVP and Victor Anthony Koko was named final MVP. However, the Hoopers were denied to play in the BAL by FIBA Africa, because the league was organised by the Nigerian Ministry of Youth and Sports instead of the official administrator Nigeria Basketball Federation.
The KingsMen won the Crown Elite Championship in 2022 and won the second edition of the Louis Edem Invitational Basketball Championship on 2 September 2023 in Lagos after beating Spintex Knights of Ghana in the final.
The Hoopers won their 5th national title on 25 November 2023, following the Final Four which was hosted in Port Harcourt. They finished with an undefeated 13–0 record and qualified for the 2024 BAL season, where they will be making their second appearance. In the BAL, the Hoopers won the Sahara Conference title and qualified for the playoffs as the fourth seed, eventually finishing in third place. Three Rivers players, Devine Eke, Kelvin Amayo and Will Perry, were named to the All-BAL Teams.
In November 2024, the Hoopers won their sixth national title.

## Honours
### National

Nigerian Premier League
* Champions (6): 2011, 2012, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024
Crown Elite Basketball Championship
* Champions (1): 2022
Louis Edem Invitational Basketball Championship
* Winners (1): 2023

### International

Basketball Africa League (BAL)
* Third place (1): 2024

## In African competitions

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup (3 appearances)
* 2010 – Ninth Place
* 2011 – Eleventh Place
* 2018–19 – Group Stage
Basketball Africa League (2 appearance)
* 2021 – Group Stage
* 2024 – Bronze medal

## Players
### Notable players

* Chris Obekpa (2022) – Nigerian international and former BAL blocking leader.
* Ben Uzoh (2021) – Nigerian international and former Toronto Raptors player.
* Robinson Opong (2021) – Ugandan international.
* Abdul Yahaya (2019–2020) – Two-time Nigerian League MVP.

### Individual awards

All-BAL First Team
* Will Perry – 2024
All-BAL Second Team
* Kelvin Amayo – 2024
* Devine Eke – 2024
BAL Coach of the Year
* Ogoh Odaudu – 2024
Premier League MVP
* Azuoma Dike – 2012
* Abdul Yahaya – 2019
* Johnson Anaiye – 2021
Premier League Final MVP
* Victor Anthony Koko – 2021

## Season by season

The following are the Hoopers' results in the BAL:
| BAL champions | Conference champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | League | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post-season | Head Coach | Captain |
| Season | League | Conference | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win % | Post-season | Head Coach | Captain |
| Rivers Hoopers ||||||||||
| 2021 | BAL | Group A | 3rd | 1 | 2 | .333 | Did not qualify | Ogoh Odaudu | Victor Anthony Koko |
| 2022 | BAL | Excluded from participation by FIBA over NBBF dispute | Excluded from participation by FIBA over NBBF dispute | Excluded from participation by FIBA over NBBF dispute | Excluded from participation by FIBA over NBBF dispute | Excluded from participation by FIBA over NBBF dispute | Excluded from participation by FIBA over NBBF dispute | | | Ogoh Odaudu | Victor Anthony Koko |
| 2023 | BAL | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | | | Ogoh Odaudu | Victor Anthony Koko |
| 2024 | BAL | Sahara | 1st | 4 | 2 | .667 | Lost seeding game (Douanes) Won quarterfinals (Monastir) 92–88 Lost semifinal (Al Ahly Ly) 83–89 Won third place game (Cape Town) 80–57 | Ogoh Odaudu | Victor Anthony Koko |
| Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | 5 | 4 | .556 | 0 BAL championships | 0 BAL championships | 0 BAL championships |
| Playoffs record | Playoffs record | Playoffs record | Playoffs record | 1 | 2 | .750 | 0 BAL championships | 0 BAL championships | 0 BAL championships |