2025 Rivers Hoopers season

Rivers Hoopers
2025 season
Head coach	Ogoh Odaudu
NPL	Quarterfinalist ; (eliminated by APR)

The 2025 Rivers Hoopers season is the 20th season in club history and the 3rd season of the team in the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The Hoopers will play in the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) as defending champions. They were eliminated in the BAL quarterfinals by APR.

Roster

Will Perry signed with ASC Ville de Dakar, John Wilkins retired.

Meanwhile, Kelvin Amayo, who led the team to the 2024 Nigerian Premier League title, returned to the Hoopers. Madut Akec, who played in the 2024 BAL season with AS Douanes, was also signed.

BAL roster

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

2025 Rivers Hoopers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Age
SG	2	Offia, Abel	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	20 – (2005-02-14)14 February 2005
PG	5	Afuwape, Micheal	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	26 – (1998-08-17)17 August 1998
PF	7	Nwaiwu, Onyebuchi	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	26 – (1998-08-20)20 August 1998
	10	Anaiye, Johnson	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	27 – (1997-11-06)6 November 1997
PG	11	Shamba, Maxi Munanga	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	31 – (1993-12-25)25 December 1993
SG	12	Akec, Madut (I)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	26 – (1999-01-01)1 January 1999
SG	13	Amayo, Kelvin	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	33 – (1992-01-09)9 January 1992
C	14	Olisemeka, Peter	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	33 – (1991-12-09)9 December 1991
PF	15	Sani, Samuel	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	18 – (2007-07-09)9 July 2007
SF	23	Koko Jr., Ifeanyi	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	20 – (2004-12-08)8 December 2004
SF	24	Putney, Raphiael (I)	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	35 – (1990-04-21)21 April 1990
PF	28	Ike, David (E)	2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)	17 – (2007-07-16)16 July 2007
SG	45	Abah, Ogbodeje	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	18 – (2006-12-12)12 December 2006

Head coach

Ogoh Odaudu

Assistant coach(es)

Abdulrahman Mohammed

Legend

(C) Team captain
(I) Import player
(E): BAL Elevate player
Injured

Roster

Updated: April 4, 2025

Transactions

Additions

Date	Player	Former team
March 13, 2025	Jackson Makoi^[1]	Cairns Taipans
March 13, 2025	Madut Akec	AS Douanes
March 23, 2025	Raphiael Putney^[2]	Pioneros de Los Mochis
March 26, 2025	Maxi Munanga Shamba^[3]

Subtractions

Date	Player	New team
October 26, 2024	Devine Eke^[4]	Santa Cruz Warriors
February 26, 2025	Will Perry^[5]	ASC Ville de Dakar
	John Wilkins	Retired

Games

BAL

Nile Conference

The Hoopers were placed in the Kalahari Conference, which began on 5 April 2025 and was held in Rabat, Morocco.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	Al Ittihad Alexandria	6	6	0	526	428	+98	1.000	Advance to playoffs
2		6	4	2	484	466	+18	.667
3	FUS Rabat (H)	6	2	4	456	475	−19	.333
4	Stade Malien	6	0	6	395	492	−97	.000

Source: BAL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

5 April 2025	Stade Malien	60–81	Rivers Hoopers	Rabat, Morocco
16:00	Scoring by quarter: 23–16, 12–25, 12–21, 13–19
	Pts: Coulibaly 20 Rebs: Doumbya 11 Asts: Coulibaly 6	Boxscore	Pts: Amayo 19 Rebs: Olisemeka 12 Asts: Akec, Shamba 4	Arena: Salle Moulay Abdellah Attendance: 3,329 Referees: Ian Mcclenny, Oumar Sy, Natascha Onono

6 April 2025	Rivers Hoopers	88–82	FUS Rabat	Rabat, Morocco
19:00	Scoring by quarter: 23–17, 27–25, 15–25, 23–15
	Pts: Akec 25 Rebs: Olisemeka 14 Asts: Shamba 6	Boxscore	Pts: Zouzoua 21 Rebs: Jordan 9 Asts: Jordan 11	Arena: Salle Moulay Abdellah Attendance: 4,372 Referees: Leah Lanie, Erik Aellig, Didier Gaga

8 April 2025	Rivers Hoopers	80–100	Al Ittihad Alexandria	Rabat, Morocco
17:00	Scoring by quarter: 23–25, 19–27, 23–29, 15–19
	Pts: Akec 18 Rebs: Putney 6 Asts: Shamba 8	Boxscore	Pts: Vinales 26 Rebs: Mahmoud 7 Asts: Vinales 7	Arena: Salle Moulay Abdellah Attendance: 1,015 Referees: Leah Lanie, Arnold Moseya, Didier Gaga

10 April 2025	FUS Rabat	71–79	Rivers Hoopers	Rabat, Morocco
20:00	Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 17–11, 22–22, 13–26
	Pts: Fofana 14 Rebs: Diagne 9 Asts: Zouita 6	Boxscore	Pts: Akec 17 Rebs: Olisemeka 13 Asts: Amayo 7	Arena: Salle Moulay Abdellah Attendance: 4,978 Referees: Erik Aellig, Oumar Sy, Dorothy Okatch

12 April 2025	Al Ittihad Alexandria	94–77	Rivers Hoopers	Rabat, Morocco
16:00	Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 30–10, 26–27, 19–21
	Pts: Deng 18 Rebs: Mahmoud 10 Asts: Vinales 7	Boxscore	Pts: Akec 17 Rebs: Olisemeka 16 Asts: Amayo 8	Arena: Salle Moulay Abdellah Referees: Ian Mcclenny, Yann Vezo Davidson, Natascha Onono

13 April 2025	Rivers Hoopers	79–59	Stade Malien	Rabat, Morocco
16:00	Scoring by quarter: 27–21, 27–10, 20–7, 15–21
	Pts: Putney 15 Rebs: Olisemeka 9 Asts: Olisemeka 6	Boxscore	Pts: Tounkara 14 Rebs: Doumbya 8 Asts: Sane 3	Arena: Salle Moulay Abdellah Referees: Julian McFadden, Erick Otieno, Sarty Nghixulifwa

Playoffs

Seeding game

7 June 2025	US Monastir	89–81		Pretoria, South Africa
19:00	Scoring by quarter: 14–16, 18–20, 34–26, 23–19
	Pts: Sané 22 Rebs: Lahyani 7 Asts: Hardy 9	Boxscore	Pts: Putney 28 Rebs: Olisemeka 10 Asts: Maxi Munanga 4	Arena: SunBet Arena Attendance: 5,052 Referees: Pat O'Connell, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Oumar Sy

Quarterfinals

9 June 2025	Rivers Hoopers	73–104	APR	Pretoria, South Africa
16:00	Scoring by quarter: 11–24, 21–33, 20–26, 21–21
	Pts: Akec 21 Rebs: Garba, Olisemeka 7 Asts: Akec 4	Boxscore	Pts: Omot 21 Rebs: Diarra 9 Asts: Randle 10	Arena: SunBet Arena Attendance: 1,803 Referees: Pat O'Connell, Arnold Moseya, Amir Taboubi

References

^ @RiversHoopers (14 March 2025). "South Sudanese point guard Jackson Makoi joins #TheKingsMen for @thebal 5" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 March 2024 – via Twitter.
^ "Rivers Hoopers sign American Putney for BAL challenge". The Nation Newspaper. 22 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
^ "Congo DR Maxi Munanga Shamba joins Rivers Hoopers". Gongnews. 22 March 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
^ "Santa Cruz Warriors Select Seth Maxwell, Tommy Rutherford, and Devine Eke in the 2024 NBA G League Draft". NBA.com. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
^ Basketsenegal (26 February 2025). "BAL 2025 - Will Perry, Abdoulaye Harouna et Ater Majok à l'ASC Ville de Dakar | Basketsenegal". Basketsenegal (in French). Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.

[1] @RiversHoopers (14 March 2025). "South Sudanese point guard Jackson Makoi joins #TheKingsMen for @thebal 5" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 March 2024 – via Twitter.

[2] "Rivers Hoopers sign American Putney for BAL challenge". The Nation Newspaper. 22 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.

[3] "Congo DR Maxi Munanga Shamba joins Rivers Hoopers". Gongnews. 22 March 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2025.

[4] "Santa Cruz Warriors Select Seth Maxwell, Tommy Rutherford, and Devine Eke in the 2024 NBA G League Draft". NBA.com. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.

[5] Basketsenegal (26 February 2025). "BAL 2025 - Will Perry, Abdoulaye Harouna et Ater Majok à l'ASC Ville de Dakar | Basketsenegal". Basketsenegal (in French). Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.

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2025 BAL season
Qualification Group phase Playoffs Final Rosters
Kalahari Conference	Al Ahli Tripoli MBB APR Nairobi City Thunder
Nile Conference	Al Ittihad Stade Malien FUS Rabat
Sahara Conference	ASC Ville de Dakar Kriol Star US Monastir Petro de Luanda