# Patriots BBC

Patriots Basketball Club, also known as Patriots, is a professional basketball club based in Kigali, Rwanda. Established in 2014, it plays its home games at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. The team is a four-time champion of the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL).
In the 2021 season, the Patriots played in the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The club gained worldwide attention when American star rapper J. Cole signed with the team to play in the BAL.

## History

The club Patriots BBC was founded in 2014 by a group of top corporate executives from diverse sectors of the economy. In the Patriots' debut season, they immediately reached the playoff finals, but lost to Espoir 1–3. Two years later, the Patriots won their first national championship.
On 21 September 2019, the Patriots won their fourth league title after defeating REG BBC in Game 7 of the finals, in a sold out Kigali Arena. On 26 October, head coach Henry Mwinuka, who won three league championships with Patriots, parted ways with the club to join REG. On 6 November, assistant coach Carey Odhiambo was promoted to become head coach. In April 2021, ahead of the first-ever BAL season, the team signed American Alan Major as new head coach. In April 2021, five days before the release of his album, The Off-Season, American rapper J. Cole signed with the Patriots.
The Patriots played their first BAL game on 16 May 2021 at home in Kigali, beating Nigerian side Rivers Hoopers 83–60. Eventually, the team finished in an impressive fourth place of the tournament.

## Sponsorships

In 2024, Patriots BBC signed a five-year sponsorship contract with the Rwanda Development Bank (RDB).

## Players
### Current roster

    As of 14 July 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team, as has been defined under FIBA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIBA nationality.
2024 Patriots BBC roster :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player |
| 0 | SG | RWA | Bruno Nyamwasa |
| 1 | F | RWA | Furaha de Dieu |
| 2 | SG | USA | Will Perry |
| 5 | PG | RWA | Sedar Sagamba |
| 10 | C | RWA | Frank Betoudji |
| 12 | SG | RWA | Kenny Gasana |
| 13 | F/C | RWA | Bienvenu Niyonsaba |
| 15 | F/C | RWA | Olivier Kamilindi |
| 23 | F | RWA | Steven Hagumintwari |
| 32 | SG | RWA | Samuel Ndayizeye |
| 34 | SG | RWA | Dieudonné Ndizeye |

### Retired numbers

Patriots BBC retired numbers :
| N° | Player | Position | Tenure | Ceremony date |
| 88 | Aristide Mugabe | SG | 2015–2023 | 2 March 2024 |

### Past rosters

* 2021 BAL season

### Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
* Criteria
* To appear in this section a player must have either:
* Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
* Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
* Played at least one official NBA match at any time.
* Aristide Mugabe
* Walter Nkurunziza
* Sedar Sagamba
* Jean de Dieu Niagunduka

## Honours

National Basketball League
* Winners (4): 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020
BAL
* Fourth Place (1): 2021

## Season by season

| League champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post-season | Cup competitions | Head coach |
| Season | Tier | League | Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | Post-season | Cup competitions | Head coach |
| Patriots BBC |||||||||||
| 2016–17 | 1 | NBL | 1st | | | | | Not held | | Henry Mwinuka |
| 2017–18 | League not played | League not played | League not played | League not played | League not played | League not played | League not played | League not played | League not played | | Henry Mwinuka |
| 2018–19 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 16 | 14 | 2 | .875 | Won semifinals (APR) 3–2 Won finals (REG) 4–3 | Runners-up (HC) | Henry Mwinuka |
| 2019–20 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | Won semifinals (IPRC-Kigali) 88–59 Won finals (REG) 76–61 | | Carey Odhiambo |
| 2020–21 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 12 | 11 | 1 | .917 | Won quarterfinals (30 Plus) 106–61 Won semifinals (APR) 2–0 Lost finals (REG) 0–2 | Cancelled | Dean Murray |
| 2021–22 | 1 | RBL | 1st | 24 | 22 | 2 | .917 | Won semifinals (Tigers) 2–0 Lost finals (REG) 2–3 | Not organised | Ogolla Benson |
| 2022–23 | 1 | RBL | 2nd | 22 | 19 | 3 | .864 | Lost semifinals (APR) 0–2 | Not organised | Henry Mwinuka |
| 2023–24 | 1 | RBL | 1st | 18 | 17 | 1 | .944 | Won semifinals (Kepler) 3–0 Lost finals (APR) 2–4 | Semifinalist (RC) | Henry Mwinuka |
| Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | 95 | 86 | 9 | .905 | 4 NBL/RBL championships | 4 NBL/RBL championships | 4 NBL/RBL championships |
| Playoffs record | Playoffs record | Playoffs record | Playoffs record | 37 | 21 | 16 | .568 | | | |

## Head coaches

| Coach | From | To | Honours |
| Henry Mwinuka | December 2016 | October 2019 | 4x NBL champion |
| Carey Odhiambo | November 2019 | February 2020 | |
| Dean Murray | February 2020 | March 2021 | 1x NBL champion |
| Bernard Oluoch | March 2021 | April 2021 | |
| Alan Major | April 2021 | May 2021 | |
| Ogolla Benson | May 2021 | December 2022 | |
| Henry Mwinuka | January 2023 | present | |