City Oilers

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
Leagues	NBL Uganda BAL
Founded	2011; 14 years ago (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
Home Away Third

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

The Oilers celebrating winning the 2022 NBL championship

National Basketball League

• Champions (10): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022,^[8] 2023, 2024

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			1	4	6th in Nile Conference
2024	4	1	Silver			1	4	4th in Nile Conference	Karim Nesba
Total	13	6	1/3			2	8

1. In the 2022 qualification, City Oilers withdrew before the start of the Elite 16.

Players

Main category: City Oilers players

Current roster

2023–24 City Oilers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age PG 00 Rembert, Patrick (I) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 36 – (1989-04-09)9 April 1989 PG 1 Baale, Fayed 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 23 – (2001-12-28)28 December 2001 PF 4 Okello, James 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 33 – (1992-01-26)26 January 1992 PF 6 Miller Jr., Dane (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 35 – (1990-05-10)10 May 1990 SG 7 Muhwezi, Ivan 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 27 – (1998-01-19)19 January 1998 SG 10 Drileba, Tony 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 31 – (1993-12-19)19 December 1993 SF 12 Allawi, Ssenkubuge 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 22 – (2002-08-24)24 August 2002 C/PF 13 Odeke, Titus 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 26 – (1998-12-29)29 December 1998 SG 14 Opong, Robinson 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 36 – (1989-05-10)10 May 1989 PF 15 Ahmed, Muhammed (I) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 32 – (1993-08-17)17 August 1993 G 23 Culpepper, Randy (I) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 36 – (1989-05-16)16 May 1989 F 24 Maluach, Khaman (E) 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) 18 – (2006-09-13)13 September 2006	Head coach Karim Nesba Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster 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
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Jimmy Enabu
• Kami Kabange
• Khaman Maluach
• Stanley Ocitti
• James Okello^[8]
• Stephen Omony
• Robinson Opong
• A'Darius Pegues

Head coaches

Andrew Tendo was appointed by the City Oilers as the head coach at the end of 2023. He replaced long-term coach Mandy Juruni, with whom he had worked as an assistant

• Mandy Juruni: (2012 – 2023)
• Andrew Tendo: (2024 – present)
• Karim Nesba: (2024 BAL season)