Tylor Ongwae joins Ivorian side ABC Fighters for upcoming BAL Playoffs

Kenya Morans power forward Tylor Ongwae has officially signed with Ivorian basketball club Abidjan Basket Club (ABC) Fighters for the final round of the 2023 Basketball Africa League Finals that kick off this weekend at the Bank of Kigali Arena in Rwanda.

Ongwae arrived at the team’s base in Abidjan last week and has been training with the team in preparation for the team’s stab at clinching their maiden BAL title at the first time of asking.

ABC Fighters (3-2) finished fourth in the BAL Sahara Conference standings last month and will now face Angolan champions Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda - who finished top of the Nile Conference standings with a perfect record of 5-0 - in Sunday’s round of quarter-finals.

The announcement, confirmed by Mozzart Sport on Saturday, means that the Kenyan will get an opportunity to not only play in African basketball premier competition, but snap up a second chance to work and play under a familiar play caller - Coach Liz Mills.

Ongwae was one of the most pivotal players for Mills when she coached the Kenyan national basketball team and achieved lofty standards together on their way to the 2021 Afrobasket tournament.

“Tylor is the ultimate basketball professional and we built a great coach/player relationship when we both were part of the Kenyan national team in 2021,” ABC Fighters head coach Liz Mills told Mozzart Sport on Ongwae’s acquisition. “Whilst he was not available for the BAL conference games because of his season in Russia, Tylor and I had spoken about him joining the team for playoffs back in February.

“Any coach in the BAL would jump at the opportunity to be able to recruit a player of Tylor's caliber and experience.”

Famously remembered for his buzzer-beater three that secured Kenya’s historic passage to the Afrobasket tournament in a 74-73 gutsy win, Ongwae will now become the second Kenyan to play in the BAL after Bush Wamukota, who represented Rwandan club Patriots in the games’ inaugural season.

Ongwae - a top scorer in the 2019 AfroCan Championships and recently a game MVP for his former side BC Parma (Russia) - will now look forward to gelling with the Abidjan based club that has also added Tunisian professional Omar Abada from Al Wahda Damascus of the Syrian Basketball League.

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“Not only is his technical analysis of the game extremely high, he can contribute on both ends of the floor and has always been a team first player,” Mills added.

“These attributes make him a great fit for ABC and his transition into the team since arriving has been seamless.”