Urunani BBC

Urunani
Urunani
Nickname	Sisi Wenyewe
League	Viva Basketball League; BAL Qualifying Tournaments
Founded	1979
History	Urunani BBC; 1979–present
Location	Bujumbura, Burundi
President	Nkonyereza Aimé
Vice-president(s)	Uwintwari Lionel «Radja»
Head coach	Pabi Guèye
Retired numbers	1 (8)
Website	www.urunani.com

Urunani BBC is a Burundian basketball club based in Bujumbura. Nicknamed "Sisi Wenyewe", the team plays in the Viva Basketball League (VBL).

Since 1979, Urunani has won more than 17 national championships of Burundi (some years the national championship was not held for several reasons).

History

The name Urunani means "being together, a strong and indestructible network".^[1] The club played in the Basketball Championship Amateurs de Bujumbura (ACBAB) for the first time in 1979.

Urunani BBC has already won three international competitions organized by the FIBA Zone 5. The club also played in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

At mid-2021, Urunani reached an agreement with the ugandan club, City Oilers to bring back home Landry Ndikumana, and the rwandan club Tigers for Malick Ngenzahayo. It’s at the end of 2021 that Urunani have completed the signing of Guibert Nijimbere from Patriots. Ahead of the VBL 2022, the team acquired 5 international players from Uganda (Peter Obleng), South-Sudan (Peter Cheng Maleck), DRC (Michael Bwanga), Kenya (Paul Ereng Ekiru) and Nigeria (Njoku Joseph Chibuzo). With its strengthened roster, Urunani(17 wins/1 loss) managed to become the Burundian Champions and claimed a spot in the 2023 BAL Qualifiers. The team became the first-ever team from Burundi to win a semi-professional league : the Viva Basketball League in his first edition.

One of the notable players of Urunani, Elvis "Gafyisi" Hakizimana, wore number 8 during 20 seasons. On 24 January 2022, Gafyisi's jersey number was retired at the Terrain Département. On 26 January, Urunani signed Hakizimana as their new assistant coach.

In 2024, they won another national championship after defeating Dynamo in seven games in the finals, behind MVP Jean Jacques Boissy.^[2] Urunani hired Pabi Guèye, a former BAL Coach of the Year, to lead the team in the Road to BAL.^[3]

Honours

Burundian Basketball Championship

Champions (17+): 2010,^[4] 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,^[4] 2016, 2022, 2024^[2]

President's Cup

Winners (1+): 2015^[4]

Heroes' Cup

Winners (3): 2019, 2021, 2022

Burundian Super Cup

Winners (1): 2020

ACBAB

Champions (3+): 2015,^[4] 2016,^[4] 2017

FIBA Africa Zone 5 Champions

Winners (3): 2011, 2013, 2014

In African competitions

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup

2011 – Regular Season
2013 – Regular Season
2014 – Regular Season

Players

2022 roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Urunani roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Age
G	0	Ngenzahayo, Malick	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)	28 – (1996-10-21)21 October 1996
G	4	Filer, Adonis		31 – (1993-07-11)11 July 1993
	6	Akimana, Jambon Landry		31 – (1993-06-26)26 June 1993
PG	7	Irakoze Kavakure, Brian	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	31 – (1993-09-18)18 September 1993
SF	12	Ndikumana, Landry	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	29 – (1995-02-14)14 February 1995
C	21	Ndagijimana, Oly Mogard	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	25 – (1999-09-30)30 September 1999
	23	Ndikuriyo, Bienvenu Richard		27 – (1997-05-15)15 May 1997
PG	24	Nsengiyumva, Yves		21 – (2003-05-15)15 May 2003
C	32	Adjehi, Baru	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	33 – (1991-10-12)12 October 1991
C	44	Parker, Timajh	2.032 m (6 ft 8.0 in)	30 – (1994-02-09)9 February 1994
	88	Kazunguzibwa, Michael		30 – (1993-11-27)27 November 1993
PG	95	Nijimbere, Guibert	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	29 – (1995-01-01)1 January 1995

Head coach

Aaron Kagabo

Legend

(C) Team captain
Injured

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.