A Fest of Africa’s Basketball Best

Africa’s top university 3×3 basketball teams descended upon the courts of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa in what became a fest of basketball’s best at the 5th FASU 3×3 Basketball Championship.

Taking place every two years – with the last edition being held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2021 – the tournament brings together the cream of the continent’s top university ballers to showcase their talent and skills in the always-entertaining three-on-three version of the game.

The four-day event, which took place from June 22-25, featured 14 university teams across both the men’s and women’s events, including institutions from Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and host nation South Africa.

In the women’s competition, American University in Cairo (AUC) from Egypt were a cut above the rest, going unbeaten across the entire tournament as they marched to a 21-15 victory over Kenya’s United States International University – Africa in the final to take home the gold medal. Uganda’s Makerere University earned third place after overcoming South Africa’s North West University in the bronze medal match.

Men’s Champions from Ghana’s University of Cape CoastThe men’s contest was a tightly fought affair, with fans both present at the Soweto Campus courts and watching the livestream online treated to a plethora of entertaining matches. Following the culmination of the pool stages, the four teams to progress to the semi-finals included Kenya’s USIU-Africa, Egypt’s American University in Cairo, hosts University of Johannesburg and Ghana’s University of Cape Coast. It was the latter from Ghana which topped the podium in the end with a 21-12 victory over their Kenyan rivals, as AUC claimed third place.

Sports Communication Coordinator at University of Johannesburg Collen Maepa, who helped organise the championship, hailed the tournament as a major hit.

“The event was a huge success,” he told FISU.net. “The visiting students from universities outside South Africa enjoyed being in Johannesburg and participating in the championship. My highlight was seeing people commenting on the livestream link on YouTube, cheering for their teams from their home countries.”

Maepa said hosting the continental championship was a major boost for the University of Johannesburg and encouraged other universities in the country to put up their hands for future competitions as well.

“It is very important for our University to host such global events,” he said. “We have superb facilities and are located in a great city for such events. I enjoyed having visitors from the rest of the African continent, all united in sport and taking basketball to greater heights.

“In 2024, UJ will be hosting the FISU Squash Championship and that will also be another great display of our events team’s prowess in putting together an exciting tournament. We are privileged to host such championships and it would be great if other universities can do so as well, to showcase what South Africa has in terms of world sport.”

The winners and runners up – American University in Cairo and United States International University – Africa in the women’s division, and University of Cape Coast and USIU-Africa in the men’s competition – earned automatic qualification into the FISU 3×3 World Cup, taking place later this year.

Written by Fabio De Dominicis – U-Media Reporter

(all images courtesy of the University of Johannesburg)