The journey continues: New look Thunder snap up Ariel Okal for 2023-24 season

Kenya Morans forward Ariel Okal is a new Nairobi City Thunder player after signing a one year deal with the Kenya Basketball Federation team this week.

Okal, who was recently attached to fellow contenders Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in their latest sojourn in the 2024 Road to BAL Qualifiers in Tanzania last month, agreed on the season-long contract with the Twende-powered side, and one expected to see him feature for the rest of the 2023-24 basketball season.

It is understood that the big man, whose career includes stints with Tanzania’s Don Bosco Savio and Uganda’s Namuwongo Blazers, had been training with the team as he awaited clearance from his former side KPA, with who he clinched two KBF titles after making his first appearance for them in 2014, then as a college student.

Thunder therefore, will be his second Kenyan side, adding to his rich-array of clubs that he has previously been attached to.

Okal’s foreign journey has seen him clinch titles in Tanzania with the aforementioned Don Bosco Savio, a league triumph with Oman club Al Bashaer, and his latest gong - a Viva Basketball League title with Burundian side Dynamo BBC.

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“We are delighted to have such a senior player within our ranks,” Nairobi City Thunder General Manager Kooshin Diriye said on Wednesday 15 November during Okal’s media day. “I have had previous interactions with him and won a championship with him at KPA. I believe he will be a valuable addition to our side, and to the young players who will learn more from him.”

Okal is the latest of marquee signings Thunder have made in the months following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season - where they finished third - and joins fellow international players including Fidel Okoth and Ken Wachira who plied their trade in Oman and Burundi respectively last season.

Other new team members include: USIU’s duo of Larry Shavanga and Ariel Ortega, former Strathmore Blades pair of Daril Omondi and Garang Ding and Faheem Juma, a standout for the Kenya Morans and Equity Dumas last season.

“It's an exciting project being built here,” Okal said on his decision to join Bradley Ibs’ side. “The squad here is strong and some of them I have personal relationships with. Together we can deliver a championship for sure.”

After securing a 85-61 victory against Strathmore Blades on 3 November, Thunder next play Equity Dumas on 17 November at the Nyayo National Stadium (Gymnasium) where Okal is primed to make his debut.