Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Tuesday announced that the league will host a Combine in Paris, France for aspiring BAL players ahead of the 2023 BAL season, which will tip off Saturday, March 11 in Dakar, Senegal.

The two-day scouting event, which will feature 30 players from Africa, Europe, the U.S. and around the world, will take place Sunday, January 15 and Monday, January 16 at the One Ball Training Center in Paris.

The players will take part in anthropometric and athletic testing, positional skill development and 5-on-5 games in front of attending scouts, coaches, and executives from the 12 club teams that have qualified for the 2023 BAL season. 

2021 NBA All-Star Game and former Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder will serve as BAL Combine camp director.  Joining Snyder’s coaching staff will be 2021 WNBA Champion and Chicago Sky head coach James Wade, French Women’s National Team head coach Jean-Aimé Toupane, former NBA player Ed Davis, French U-18 Men’s National Team head coach Lamine Kébé and French U-20 National Team assistant coach Mehdy Mary.

BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall, FIBA Africa and BAL Board President Anibal Manave, 2011 NBA Champion and BAL Ambassador Ian Mahinmi (France; ties to Benin) and 2012 NBA Champion Ronny Turiaf (France) will also attend and interact with the participants.

Fall said: “As we continue to grow the BAL into a world-class professional basketball league, our goal is to attract top talent from across Africa and around the world,” said Fall.The second BAL Combine will allow our teams to evaluate a wider pool of players, including from across the African Diaspora, ahead of what promises to be a supercompetitive 2023 BAL season.”

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