# 2023 BAL season

The 2023 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 3, was the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 11 March 2023 and ended on 27 May 2023. The playoffs were played in the BK Arena in Kigali, which hosted the final stage for a third season in a row. The regular season was played in Dakar, Senegal and Cairo, Egypt, both venues hosted a conference for a second year in a row.
Al Ahly defeated AS Douanes in the final, which was played in the BK Arena in Kigali, for a first-ever BAL title. As the winners, Al Ahly automatically qualified for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup Singapore.
US Monastir were the defending champions, having won their first title in the previous edition, but were eliminated in the Sahara Conference.

## Qualification

The first round of the qualifying stage consists of 20 teams that play in four groups of five, each held in different cities. In the Elite 16, the teams are joined by 6 teams that qualified during the previous 2022 BAL qualification. Two groups of five teams are played to determine the six teams that advance to the main tournament.
On 21 September 2021, FIBA Africa announced the 26 teams in the qualifying tournaments as well as the six countries that would qualify directly.

### East Division
#### Group phase

| Group A (Niamey) | Group B (Yaoundé) |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 ABC Fighters 3 6 2 Stade Malien 3 5 3 Elan Coton (W) 3 4 4 Nigelec (H) 3 3 Source: Road to BAL (H) Hosts; (W) Advanced with wild card | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Bangui Sporting Club 2 4 2 Nueva Era 2 3 3 Espoir 2 2 Source: Road to BAL |

#### Elite 16

| Group A (Abidjan) | Group B (Abidjan) |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Bangui Sporting Club 3 6 2 ABC Fighters 3 4 3 AS Salé 3 4 4 Elan Coton 3 4 Source: Road to BAL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Stade Malien 3 6 2 SLAC 3 5 3 FAP 3 4 4 Nueva Era 3 3 Source: Road to BAL |

#### Final round

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 18 November 2022 | 18 November 2022 |
| Bangui Sporting Club | 61 |
| Bangui Sporting Club | 61 | 19 November 2022 | 19 November 2022 |
| SLAC | 69 | 19 November 2022 | 19 November 2022 |
| SLAC | 69 | SLAC | 70 |
| 18 November 2022 | 18 November 2022 | | SLAC | 70 |
| 18 November 2022 | 18 November 2022 | ABC Fighters | 81 |
| Stade Malien | 59 | ABC Fighters | 81 |
| ABC Fighters | 62 | | |
| ABC Fighters | 62 | Third place game | Third place game |
| | | 19 November 2022 | 19 November 2022 |
| | | Bangui Sporting Club | 59 |
| | | Stade Malien | 62 |

### East Division
#### Group phase

| Group A (Dar es Salaam) | Group B (Antananarivo) |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Urunani 3 6 2 City Oilers 3 5 3 ABC (H) 3 4 4 Matero Magic (W) 3 3 Source: Road to BAL (H) Hosts; (W) Advanced with wild card | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 COSPN (H) 2 4 2 KPA 2 3 3 Djabal Iconi 2 2 Source: Road to BAL (H) Hosts |

#### Elite 16

| Group C (Johannesburg) | Group D (Johannesburg) |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Urunani 3 5 2 Cape Town Tigers 3 5 3 NBA Academy Africa 3 5 4 KPA 3 3 Source: Road to BAL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 City Oilers 3 6 2 Ferroviário da Beira 3 5 3 Matero Magic 3 4 4 COSPN 3 3 Source: Road to BAL |

#### Final round

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 26 November | 26 November |
| Urunani | 62 |
| Urunani | 62 | 27 November | 27 November |
| Ferroviário da Beira | 68 | 27 November | 27 November |
| Ferroviário da Beira | 68 | Ferroviário da Beira | 71 |
| 26 November | 26 November | | Ferroviário da Beira | 71 |
| 26 November | 26 November | Cape Town Tigers | 81 |
| City Oilers | 69 | Cape Town Tigers | 81 |
| Cape Town Tigers | 75 | | |
| Cape Town Tigers | 75 | Third place game | Third place game |
| | | 27 November | 27 November |
| | | Urunani | 62 |
| | | City Oilers | 71 |

## Teams

Petro de Luanda was the first team to qualify for the season when it won the Angolan League on 10 May 2022. The last qualified team was City Oilers who captured the third place in the Road to BAL East Division on 27 November 2022. The twelve teams of the 2023 BAL season were officially confirmed on 13 February 2023. After an absence of a Nigerian representative in the 2022 season due to FIBA's punishment of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Kwara Falcons was directly qualified as winners of the Nigerian Premier League.
Al Ahly, Kwara Falcons, ABC Fighters and Stade Malien made their league debuts. ABC Fighters was the first team from Ivory Coast to play in the BAL, while City Oilers was the first team from Uganda.
Two teams, defending champions US Monastir and runners-up Petro de Luanda, appear in their third consecutive season.
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Previous appearance | Consecutive appearances | Previous best performance |
| Petro de Luanda | Angolan Basketball League winners | 10 May 2022 | 3rd | 2022 | 3 | Runners-up (2022) |
| US Monastir | Championnat National A winners | 16 May 2022 | 3rd | 2022 | 3 | Champions (2022) |
| Al Ahly | Egyptian Super League winners | 16 May 2022 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
| REG | RBL winners | 19 September 2022 | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2022) |
| AS Douanes | Nationale 1 winners | 15 October 2022 | 2nd | 2021 | 1 | Quarter-finals (2021) |
| Kwara Falcons | NBBF Premier League winners | 12 November 2022 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
| ABC Fighters | Road to BAL West Division winners | 17 November 2022 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
| SLAC | Road to BAL West Division runners-up | 17 November 2022 | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2022) |
| Stade Malien | Road to BAL West Division third place | 18 November 2022 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
| Ferroviário da Beira | Road to BAL East Division runners-up | 26 November 2022 | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Group stage (2022) |
| Cape Town Tigers | Road to BAL East Division winners | 26 November 2022 | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2022) |
| City Oilers | Road to BAL East Division third place | 27 November 2022 | 1st | – | 1 | – |

### Personnel

Augustí Julbe of Al Ahly was the only coach this season to already have won a BAL championship, as he won the 2021 title with Zamalek.
| Team | Head coach | Captain |
| ABC Fighters | Liz Mills | Stéphane Konaté |
| Al Ahly | Augustí Julbe | Seif Samir |
| AS Douanes | Pabi Guèye | Alkaly Ndour |
| Cape Town Tigers | Rasheed Hazzard | Pieter Prinsloo |
| City Oilers | Mandy Juruni | James Okello |
| Ferroviário da Beira | Luís Lopes Hernandez | Will Perry |
| Kwara Falcons | Baba Jubril | Victor Ezeh |
| Petro de Luanda | José Neto | Carlos Morais |
| REG | Dean Murray | Olivier Shyaka |
| SLAC | Željko Zečević | Ibrahima Kalil Fofana |
| Stade Malien | Kaba Kanté | Makan Keita |
| US Monastir | Miodrag Perišić | Radhouane Slimane |

### 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 also featured one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the BAL Elevate program. The players were drafted in an online meeting by the teams and the official list were announced on 28 February 2023.
| Team | Players | Players | Players | Players | Elevate player |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Elevate player |
| ABC Fighters | Omar Abada | Tylor Ongwae | Ousmane Dramé | Abdoulaye Harouna | Joy Ighovodja |
| Al Ahly | Nuni Omot | Michael Fakuade | Michael Thompson | Corey Webster | Ladji Camara |
| AS Douanes | Matthew Bryan-Amaning | Michael Ochereobia | Terrell Stoglin | Chris Crawford | Khaman Maluach |
| Cape Town Tigers | Evans Ganapamo | Michael Gbinije | Zaire Wade | Marvin Smith Jr. | Parby Musongela |
| City Oilers | Ngor Barnaba | Falando Jones | James Justice Jr. | — | Obe Ezekiel |
| Ferroviário da Beira | Makhtar Gueye | Bourama Sidibe | Will Perry | Najeal Young | Paul Kabenga Mbiya |
| Kwara Falcons | Sita Conteh | Kevin Nyemeck | A. J. Wilson | Ruot Monyyong | Modou Fall Thiam |
| Petro de Luanda | Solo Diabate | Damian Hollis | Ater Majok | — | Seifeldin Hendaway |
| REG | Pitchou Kambuy Manga | Beleck Bell Engelbert | Cleveland Thomas | Delwan Graham | Ulrich Chomche |
| SLAC | Michael Nwabuzor | Uchenna Iroegbu | Dane Miller Jr. | Sedrick Barefield | Mabilmawut Mabil |
| Stade Malien | Kelvin Amayo | Gregory Foster | Brian Bridgeford | John Wilkins | Rueben Chinyelu |
| US Monastir | Ibrahima Thomas | Jerome Randle | — | — | Churchill Abass |
Notes
* ↑ The ABC Fighters played the regular season with Chudier Bile (South Sudan), Alex Robinson (United States) and Chris Obekpa (Nigeria) as import players. They switched the three players ahead of the playoffs.
* ↑ The Cape Town Tigers played in the regular season with Josh Hall as an import player, however, Hall was released and replaced with Marvin Smith Jr. ahead of the playoffs.

### Notable transactions

* On 23 September 2022, Petro de Luanda signed two-time BAL champion Solo Diabate, who came over from US Monastir.
* On 10 January 2023, AS Douanes announced the signing of two-time BAL scoring champion Terrell Stoglin. They signed Chris Crawford, who played in the two previous BAL seasons, as well to complete their back court.
* On 21 January 2023, US Monastir signed Jerome Randle, a former NBL MVP winner in Australia.
* On 4 February 2023, the Cape Town Tigers signed Zaire Wade. Because Zaire is the son of Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, the signing gained attention in the United States.
* On 23 February 2023, ABC Fighters announced the signing of Abdoulaye Harouna, who lined up for his third BAL season.
* On 10 March 2023, Petro de Luanda signed Ater Majok, reigning BAL champion and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Majok came over from US Monastir.
* In May, ahead of the playoffs, the ABC Fighters signed Omar Abada, who was an All-BAL First Team selection in 2021.

## Pre-season

US Monastir, as champions of the 2022 BAL season, participated in the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. It was the second time a BAL team participated in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. In the competition, played in February and hosted in La Laguna in Spain, Monastir finished fourth after two losses against CB Canarias and Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
ESPN declared Petro de Luanda, last year's runners-up, as the title favourites in their annual season preview.

### Combine

The league hosted their official second BAL Combine on 15 and 16 January 2023 at The One Ball Training Center in Paris. The combine featured 30 players and was directed by former NBA head coach Quin Snyder. Several players signed a contract with a BAL team after participating in the Combine.
Signed players from the 2023 BAL Combine :
| Player | Team |
| Adonis Filer | REG |
| Chudier Bile | ABC Fighters |
| Makhtar Gueye | Ferroviário da Beira |
| Zaire Wade | Cape Town Tigers |

## Schedule

The schedule for the 2023 season was officially released on 13 February 2023.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | Games |
| Qualifying | First Round | – | 12–30 October 2022 |
| Qualifying | Elite 16 | 3 November 2022 | 14–27 November 2022 |
| Group phase | Sahara Conference | – | 11–21 March 2023 |
| Group phase | Nile Conference | – | 26 April – 6 May 2023 |
| Playoffs | Quarter-finals | – | 21–27 May 2023 |
| Playoffs | Semi-finals | – | 21–27 May 2023 |
| Playoffs | Final and third place | – | 21–27 May 2023 |

## Regular season

The regular season is played from 11 March to 6 May 2023. The twelve teams are divided into two conferences of six teams each. Teams in each group play each other one time, whereafter the top four teams advance to the playoffs.
* Tiebreakers
* The ranking of teams in the regular season is 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.

### Sahara Conference

The games of the Sahara Conference were played from 11 March to 21 March 2023 and were hosted in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal for a second consecutive season. Stade Malien finished as Conference winner, due to their head-to-head point difference that determined the ranking of five teams with a 3–2 record. The defending BAL champions, US Monastir, missed the playoffs after they lost on the last game day.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification | SML | ASD | REG | ABC | USM | KWA |
| 1 | Stade Malien | 5 | 3 | 2 | 378 | 361 | +17 | .600 | Advance to playoffs | — | — | 84–64 | — | 68–78 | — |
| 2 | AS Douanes (H) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 350 | 331 | +19 | .600 | Advance to playoffs | 74–58 | — | — | 70–76 | — | — |
| 3 | REG | 5 | 3 | 2 | 356 | 344 | +12 | .600 | Advance to playoffs | — | 69–55 | — | — | 79–84 | 64–48 |
| 4 | ABC Fighters | 5 | 3 | 2 | 389 | 390 | −1 | .600 | Advance to playoffs | 71–90 | — | 73–80 | — | 90–74 | — |
| 5 | US Monastir | 5 | 3 | 2 | 381 | 388 | −7 | .600 | | — | 60–76 | — | — | — | 85–74 |
| 6 | Kwara Falcons | 5 | 0 | 5 | 341 | 381 | −40 | .000 | | 74–78 | 68–75 | — | 76–79 | — | — |
* 1 2 3 4 5 Five tied teams were ranked on point differential in the games against each other: 1) Stade Malien +13; 2) AS Douanes +12; 3) REG –4; 4) ABC Fighters –4; 5) US Monastir –18.

### Nile Conference

The games of the Nile Conference will be played from 26 April to 6 May 2023 and will be played in the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in 6th of October, Cairo, Egypt.
Petro de Luanda went undefeated and won the conference, after defeating four teams with a margin of at least 17 points. In the most notable match-up of the conference, Petro de Luanda defeated Al Ahly on a buzzer-beater by Gerson Gonçalves.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification | PDL | AAH | CFV | CTT | SLC | COI |
| 1 | Petro de Luanda | 5 | 5 | 0 | 463 | 363 | +100 | 1.000 | Advance to playoffs | — | 91–90 | — | 87–48 | — | 89–71 |
| 2 | Al Ahly (H) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 425 | 380 | +45 | .800 | Advance to playoffs | — | — | 92–73 | — | 80–70 | — |
| 3 | Ferroviário da Beira | 5 | 2 | 3 | 416 | 462 | −46 | .400 | Advance to playoffs | 76–101 | — | — | 82–76 | — | — |
| 4 | Cape Town Tigers | 5 | 2 | 3 | 354 | 398 | −44 | .400 | Advance to playoffs | — | 75–91 | — | — | — | 80–70 |
| 5 | SLAC | 5 | 1 | 4 | 409 | 427 | −18 | .200 | | 78–95 | — | 97–109 | 68–75 | — | — |
| 6 | City Oilers | 5 | 1 | 4 | 375 | 412 | −37 | .200 | | — | 70–72 | 96–75 | — | 68–96 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head: Ferroviário da Beira defeated Cape Town Tigers 82–76 on 3 May 2023.
* 1 2 Head-to-head: SLAC defeated City Oilers 96–68 on 2 May 2023.

## Playoffs

The playoffs were held from 21 May to 27 May 2023 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for the third consecutive season.

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 21 May | 21 May | | | |
| Al Ahly | 94 | | | |
| Al Ahly | 94 | 25 May | 25 May | | |
| REG | 77 | 25 May | 25 May | |
| REG | 77 | Al Ahly | 78 | |
| 21 May | 21 May | | Al Ahly | 78 | |
| 21 May | 21 May | Stade Malien | 73 | |
| Stade Malien | 78 | Stade Malien | 73 | |
| Stade Malien | 78 | | | | 27 May | 27 May |
| Cape Town Tigers | 69 | | | | 27 May | 27 May |
| Cape Town Tigers | 69 | | | | Al Ahly | 80 |
| 22 May | 22 May | | | | | Al Ahly | 80 |
| 22 May | 22 May | | | | AS Douanes | 65 |
| Petro de Luanda | 88 | | | | AS Douanes | 65 |
| Petro de Luanda | 88 | 25 May | 25 May | | | |
| ABC Fighters | 84 | 25 May | 25 May | | | |
| ABC Fighters | 84 | Petro de Luanda | 86 | | | |
| 22 May | 22 May | | Petro de Luanda | 86 | | | |
| 22 May | 22 May | AS Douanes | 92 | | Third place game | Third place game |
| AS Douanes | 93 | AS Douanes | 92 | | Third place game | Third place game |
| AS Douanes | 93 | | | | 26 May | 26 May |
| Ferroviário da Beira | 73 | | | | 26 May | 26 May |
| Ferroviário da Beira | 73 | | | | Petro de Luanda | 65 |
| | | | | | Stade Malien | 73 |

## Individual awards

The winner of the Coach of the Year award was announced on 26 May. The Defensive Player of the Year, Sportsmanship Award and Most Valuable Player were announced on 27 May. The BAL's community service award, the Ubuntu Award, was decided by an online fan vote and the winner was announced on 30 January 2024.
* Most Valuable Player: Nuni Omot, Al Ahly
* Defensive Player of the Year: Aliou Diarra, Stade Malien
* Coach of the Year: Pabi Gueye, AS Douanes
* Sportsmanship Award: Will Perry, Ferroviário da Beira
* Ubuntu Award: Tonny Drileba, City Oilers
* All-BAL First Team
** G Chris Crawford, AS Douanes
** G Jean Jacques Boissy, AS Douanes
** F Dane Miller Jr., SLAC
** F Nuni Omot, Al Ahly
** C Aliou Diarra, Stade Malien
* BAL All-Defensive Team
** G Childe Dundão, Petro de Luanda
** G Jean Jacques Boissy, AS Douanes
** F Samkelo Cele, Cape Town Tigers
** C Aliou Diarra, Stade Malien
** C Ater Majok, Petro de Luanda

## Statistics
### Individual statistic leaders

| Category | Player | Team(s) | Statistic |
| Points per game | Falando Jones | City Oilers | 21.6 |
| Rebounds per game | Aliou Diarra | Stade Malien | 12.8 |
| Assists per game | Cleveland Thomas | REG | 6.7 |
| Steals per game | Dane Miller Jr. | SLAC | 3.2 |
| Blocks per game | Aliou Diarra | Stade Malien | 2.3 |
| Minutes per game | Dane Miller Jr. | SLAC | 39.3 |
| FG% | Dane Miller Jr. | SLAC | 55.6% |
| 3P% | Ibrahima Thomas | US Monastir | 44.8% |
| FT% | Will Perry | Ferroviário da Beira | 96.7% |

### Individual game highs

| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
| Points | Will Perry | Ferroviário da Beira | 41 |
| Rebounds | Aliou Diarra | Stade Malien | 16 |
| Assists | Cleveland Thomas | REG | 10 |
| Assists | Dane Miller Jr. | SLAC | 10 |
| Assists | Will Perry | Ferroviário da Beira | 10 |
| Steals | Ulrich Kra | ABC Fighters | 6 |
| Blocks | Aliou Diarra | Stade Malien | 5 |
| Blocks | Ater Majok | Petro de Luanda | 5 |
| Blocks | Mouhamadou Diagne | AS Douanes | 5 |
| Three pointers | Will Perry | Ferroviário da Beira | 9 |