National men’s basketball team,  Morans,  are expected to hit camp on Friday in preparation for the second window of the Afrobasket qualifiers scheduled for February 19 to 21. 

Morans are looking to maintain the core squad that did duty in the first leg held on November 25 to 27 in Rwanda.

Additionally, plans are underway to have France-based Joel Awich, who was unable to join the team in November despite receiving a call up,  and USA-based Fred Odhiambo join the team for the second leg of the qualifiers even as the host nation is yet to be decided. 

“Local based players as well internationals who are still in the country will have their Covid-19 tests done on Wednesday and with results expected after 24 hours,  they will begin training on Friday.

We expect Odhiambo and Awich to be part of the squad while talks are still ongoing to have Robert Nyakundi and Portugal based Alonzo Ododa  in depending on their availability,” said Kenya Basketball Federation assistant Secretary General Ambrose Kisoi. 

If the said players will all be available for the February competition, coach Cliff Owuor will have four new players to add to his squad’s depth. 

While Nyakundi has already featured for Morans during the pre-qualification tournament held in January last year,  the other three and Preston Bungei will be making their debut for the national team.  

Bungei honoured the call up for the first leg window and traveled with Morans to Rwanda but was unable to play as his documentation was sorted out late. 

“Bungei’s issue was sorted while the team was still in Rwanda and we are working to make sure that such does not befall us with the other new players.

We are pulling all stops to have the foreign based players in the country on time for smooth preparation,” Kisoi added.  

Meanwhile, the KBF leagues that were tentatively scheduled for January 16 have since been moved and are now settled to jump off on February 6 after the Annual  Elective General Meeting set for January 23. 

“A pre-season tournament has been set for January 30 and 31. The same weekend, team managers will have a meeting and if all teams agree the league will start on February 6 as scheduled,” added Kisoi. 

The venues for the premier league and division one matches are yet to be determined.

Nyayo, Stadium that has traditionally held KBF premier league matches has also been booked by the Kenya Volleyball Federation for their league matches.