American Rapper J Cole brought a huge positive attention to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) according to Patriots Basketball Club Operations Officer Haydee Ndayishimiye.
She made the statement in an interview on the BAL channel prior to the launch of the 2022 edition of the FIBA Africa-NBA continental tournament.
Cole made a surprise decision to get registered as a Patriots Player to compete in the maiden edition of the BAL held earlier this year at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda; the competition was held in a bubble due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
“He (Cole) had been training for a year, we liked what we saw and you have this huge megastar who is willing to come play and it brought attention to BAL that’s only positive in my mind…so I think it brought the right kind of attention and people saw BAL as a real opportunity” she said. (Click highlighted text to watch interview)
Cole played three games in the BAL bubble; the 2022 edition runs from March 5 to May 28 with Egyptian side Zamalek as defending champions.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
