City Oilers
Basketball team in Kampala, Uganda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
City Oilers is a basketball club based in Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda. The team competes in the Ugandan National Basketball League (NBL), where it has won 10 championships, the most in league history.[1] The Oilers currently also play in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
| City Oilers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 2024 City Oilers season | ||||
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| Leagues | NBL Uganda BAL | |||
| Founded | 2011 | |||
| History | City Oilers (2011–present) | |||
| Arena | MTN Arena | |||
| Location | Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda | |||
| Team colors | Blue, gold and green | |||
| Main sponsor | City Oil | |||
| President | Hajji Mohamed Ghedi Santur | |||
| Head coach | Andrew Tendo | |||
| Team captain | Ivan Muhwezi | |||
| Championships | 10 Ugandan Leagues | |||
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Founded in 2011 by a group of friends, the team is named after its main sponsor City Oil.
History
The club was founded by a group of friends who decided to play basketball together. They started playing pick-up games at courts in Kampala, with former national league players joining. Later, Justus Mugisha became head coach and suggested the team joined a basketball league. In 2011, the team was pitched to the director of oil company City Oil and the team was founded as City Oilers.[2] The team started in the NBL Division III in 2011. Later, the team promoted to the NBL Uganda, which it would win eight straight years from 2014. Additionally, the team made several continental appearances, including the 2009 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup.
The team played in the first round of the 2022 BAL Qualifying Tournaments[3] where it finished the group play 2-0 but eventually withdrew before the start of the Elite 16. The following year, City Oilers qualified for the 2023 BAL season after beating Urunani in the third place game of the Road to BAL.[4] The Oilers finished 6th in the Nile Conference, winning one game out of five.
The Oilers won their ninth title on 25 October 2023, following a 4-2 series win over the KIU Titans.[5] The following month, they qualified for their second consecutive BAL season when they defeated Dynamo in the Road to BAL semi-finals on 25 November 2023.[6]
In December 2023, Mandy Juruni decided to leave the club for an opportunity in Rwanda. As a response, the Oilers hired his assistant Andrew Tendo as the new head of the team.[7]
Honours
FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championship
- Champions (2): 2016, 2017
In international competition
In the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions
FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup (1 appearance)
- 2009 – Ninth Place
In the Basketball Africa League
The City Oilers have played in the Road to BAL four times, qualifying in 2023.[4] and 2024. They won their first BAL game on May 5, 2023, beating Ferroviário da Beira 96-75.
| Season | Road to BAL | Main competition | Coach | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Result | Qualified | W | L | Result | |||
| 2021 | 5 | 4 | Fourth Place |  |
DNQ | Mandy Juruni | |||
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | Elite 16[a] | |
DNQ | ||||
| 2023 | 6 | 2 |  Bronze |
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1 | 4 | 6th in Nile Conference | ||
| 2024 | 4 | 1 |  Silver |
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1 | 4 | 4th in Nile Conference | Karim Nesba | |
| Total | 13 | 6 | 1/3 | 2 | 8 | ||||
- In the 2022 qualification, City Oilers withdrew before the start of the Elite 16.
Players
Current roster
| 2023–24 City Oilers roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 19 April 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable players
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Criteria |
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To appear in this section a player must have either:
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Head coaches
- Mandy Juruni: (2012 – 2023)
- Andrew Tendo: (2024 – present)
- Karim Nesba: (2024 BAL season)