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Former Norfolk State University captain Preston Bungei’s arrived in the country on Tuesday evening to join Kenya Morans’ squad in training as they prepare for the upcoming Afrobasket qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda. 

A versatile player both as a guard as well as a forward, the 25-year old’s early arrival is a boost for Cliff Owuor’s charges as they will have more time to gel and incorporate the experienced player in their plans.  

Standing at 6’6”, Bungei will make his debut for the Morans in the November 25-29 competition where Kenya is set to face off with Senegal, Angola and Mozambique. 

Angola are ranked second in Africa and 32nd globally,  behind top-placed Nigeria. 

Senegal are fourth, 35th globally, while Mozambique are 13th in the continental and 93rd globally. 

Kenya is ranked 21st continentally and 122nd globally from the last FIBA rankings updated in March this year.    

With a herculean task on the backs of Morans in Kigali and later in February 2021 when the team will play the second leg of the qualifiers, coach Owuor believes such a player is a big boost to their chances as they bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge of the game.  

“Bungei and Joel Awich are the kind of players who are go to guys especially in the absence of the likes of Robert Nyakundi and Alonzo Adoda who could not make it. 

Bungei plays as a shooting guard as well as a small forward and his dribbling, post play and scoring prowess will be a big boost for us,” said Owuor in an interview. 

Bungei most recently has featured for HKK Capljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina where he joined in September 2019 and was playing until March of this year. 

He won defensive player of the year and was named in the Third Team All-League. 

He was coming off a eight-month stay at KK Jazine Arbanasi in Croatia where he was based between September 2018 and April 2019. 

Bungei played for Norfolk State University between 2015 and 2018 while studying for a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management where he was appointed captain in his senior year. 

In his final year he competed in all 33 games, making 18 starts. He was named the MEAC Defensive Player of the Week and also earned a spot on the AD’s Honour Roll both semesters and the MEAC All-Academic Team.

He averaged 8.5 points, a team-leading 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He missed the 2016/17 season due to injury.  

In his junior year in 2015/16,  he played in all 34 games and made 12 starts, was named to the AD’s Honor Roll and also earned a spot on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State Team. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

At Trinidad State Junior College, Bungei started in all 30 games of his Sophomore year, averaged 11.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 blocks per game and was the leading rebounder in the region 9 South.

In his freshman year at Trinidad, he competed in all 30 games and made 14 starts. Averaged 5.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.