Thetford Mines – the new home of the only French Basketball Academy in North America.
For the past two years, Alma Academy – the only French Basketball Academy in North America – has been helping Quebec’s basketball growth. The Academy has allowed more than 12 of its graduates to play at the post-secondary level. For the 2014-2015 season, the Academy has found a new home that will allow the program to attract more players and provide a better schedule to its teams. Founder and coach, Igor Rwigema, feels confident about this new location.
“The experience in Alma has showed us that our project had a positive impact in our players’ development,” said Coach Rwigema. “However, we wanted to find a better geographical situation to allow us to provide a tougher and better schedule to our teams.”
Thetford Mines is located within 2 hours of Montreal, the American border, and all the big cities in the province of Quebec.
“We are now saving more than 4 hours on every trip we were making south of the border or in Ontario,” added Rwigema.
The Thetford program will keep the same formula with 2 elite traveling teams (Prep, High School) and 2 provincials teams (Cegep and Junior Varsity) that will compete in the Quebec division. The teams will features some intriguing prospects and will certainly continue to perform well on the provincial and national scene. The Prep team will be highlighted by a trio of 2015’s grad Joel Tshimanga, Levi Londole and Jordyson Telfort. Narcisse Kalamba and Jonathan Koud will add depth and scoring to the team.
The Thetford High School team features some of the best prospect in the province. Their athletic style of play gives this group the chance to be one of the more balanced rosters the Academy has shown since the start of the program. This team will be led by 6’7 athletic forward Edwin Jeudy and 6’2 GuardBorys Minger. Guard play will arguably be one of the best in the country with 2018 Kolia Konan and 2017 Alain Louis running the show. On the provincial scene, the Cegep and the Junior Varsity groups will try to win the provincial title in both the Cegep and High School Division 2 of RSEQ. Those 2 groups are full of young interesting prospects that will develop throughout the year. The Academy will look to continue building on their success on and off the court.
Thetford Prep Team Roster
Levi Londole, 6’7 Forward Class 2015
Joel Tshimanga, 6’7 Forward Class 2015
Joel Thabize, 6’7 Forward Class 2016
Narcisse Kalamba, 6’6 Wing Class 2016
Jacques Motingui, 6’6 Forward Class 2016
Jordyson Telfort, 6’5 Wing Class 2015
Charles Berdnikoff, 6’3 Guard Class 2015
Henderson Charles, 6’2 Guard Class 2016
Kasey Buzas, 6’1 Guard Class 2016
Jonathan Koud, 6’1 Guard Class 2017
Vladimir Thomas, 6’0 Guard Class 2015
Luay Saida Abow, 5’8 Guard Class 2015
Thetford High School Roster
Michel Hakizimana, 6’8 Forward Class 2017
Edwin Jeudy, 6’7 Forward Class 2017
Moise Ekamba, 6’6 Forward Class 2017
Anatole Yeguete, 6’5 Forward Class 2017
Peterson Pierre-Louis, 6’5 Guard Class 2017
Emmanuel Metellus, 6’4 Wing Class 2017
Mamadou Keita, 6’3 Guard Class 2017
Eman Eman, 6’3 Guard Class 2018
Borys Minger, 6’2 Guard Class 2016
Alain Louis, 6’0 Guard Class 2017
Nicolas Desjardins, 6’0 Guard Class 2016
Kolia Konan, 5’9 Guard Class 2018
Thetford Cegep Roster
Ibrahima Barry, 6’4 Forward
Daniel Fisher, 6’4 Forward
Rajiv Ndemba, 6’4 Forward
Seth Valminor, 6’4 Foward
Camille Mukendi, 6’3 Guard
Alex Guelongo, 6’1 Guard
Gideon Kabongo, 6’1 Guard
Jonathan Kabasele, 6’0 Guard
Samuel Bokanga, 6’0 Guard
David Bouhoussou, 5’10 Guard
Anthony Verna, 5’9 Guard
Dave Casseus, 5’9 Guard
Thetford Junior Varsity Roster
Adrien Benzeval, 6’5 Forward
Christopher Mongita, 6’4 Forward
Kevin Catulusi, 6’4 Forward
Frederic Kinuani-Savard, 6’4 Wing
Quincy Guerrier, 6’4 Wing
Marlon Lafortune, 6’3 Wing
David Bokanga, 6’3 Wing
Wilfred Balata, 6’3 Wing
Marvin Oseibadu, 6’3 Wing
Gabriel Thabize, 6’2 Guard
Jeffrey Tezo, 6’0 Guard
Edsens Paul, 5’6 Guard
Achraf Benhabbazz, 5’5 Guard