FAP Basketball

Forces Armées et Police Basketball (transl. Armed Forces and Police), commonly known as simply FAP or FAP Yaoundé, is a basketball team based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. It is the basketball team of the Cameroonian armed forces and police. The team previously played in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) and domestically plays in the Elite Messieurs. FAP has won the national championship four times, the Cameroon Cup twice, and the Central Region League Championship five times.

FAP
Nickname	Les Lions (The Lions)
Leagues	Elite Messieurs
Founded	1972
History	Forces Armées et Police Basketball 1972–present
Arena	Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex
Capacity	5,263
Location	Yaoundé, Cameroon
Chairman	Jackson Kamgaing
Head coach	Laurent Baleba
Ownership	Cameroon Armed Forces
Championships	4 Cameroonian Leagues 2 Cameroonian Cups 5 Central Region Championships
Website	fapbasketball.com
Home Away Third

The Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex serves as home arena of the team.^[1]

History

The club was established in 1972 in Yaoundé.^[2] In November 2019, FAP entered the qualifying tournaments for the newly established Basketball Africa League (BAL), representing Cameroon as runners-up because champions Condor BC refused its invitation.^[3] After a good first round run, FAP played even better in the second round. After beating ABC in the semi-finals, FAP qualified for the first edition of the BAL.^[4]

In 2020, FAP won its first silverware after winning the Elite Messieurs title. It went unbeaten in the Final Four tournament with a 6–0 record.^[5] Ahead of the inaugural BAL season in May 2021, FAP signed Lazare Adingono as head coach.^[6] In the following season, FAP repeated as champions.

In the 2022 BAL season, FAP finished in fourth place after eliminating the favoured Rwandan hosts REG in the quarter-finals. The third place game was lost to Zamalek.

Arena

Interior view of the Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, home arena of FAP

The Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, built in 2009, is the home arena of FAP Basketball. Most basketball games of the Elite Messieurs final stages are played in the complex.

Honours

Domestic

Elite Messieurs

• Champions (4): 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
  • Runners-up (1): 2018–19

Cameroonian Cup

• Winners (2): 2022, 2024^[7]

Regional

Central Region League Championship^[2]

• Champions (5): 2011, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022

International

Basketball Africa League

• Fourth place (1): 2022
• Quarter-finalist (1): 2021

BAL Qualifying Tournaments

• Winners (1): 2022 (West Division)
  • Runners-up (1): 2021 (West Division)

Players

Current roster

The FAP roster ahead of the 2022 BAL Playoffs

The following is the FAP roster for the 2022 BAL season:^[8]

FAP roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age PG 00 Morman, Deshaun (WI) 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 31 – (1994-02-26)26 February 1994 PG 1 Liale Keumoe, Cyrille 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 33 – (1992-06-10)10 June 1992 G/F 2 Minlend Jr., Charles 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 27 – (1997-12-19)19 December 1997 PF 4 Eyaga Bidias, Brice 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1998-10-26)26 October 1998 SF 5 Tsangue, Cédric 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 33 – (1991-08-21)21 August 1991 F 6 Tankoua, Pierre 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 30 – (1994-08-15)15 August 1994 SG 10 Almeida, Joel (AI) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 39 – (1985-10-11)11 October 1985 C 13 Ngaransou, Yves-Louis 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 30 – (1994-10-20)20 October 1994 F 14 Chomche, Ulrich (E) 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 19 – (2005-12-30)30 December 2005 G/F 15 Tametong Toko, Étienne 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 33 – (1992-07-13)13 July 1992 C 21 Byers, Tyjhai (WI) 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 27 – (1998-04-01)1 April 1998 SF 23 Essome, Pierre Cedric 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 36 – (1989-05-31)31 May 1989 C 24 Wangmene, Alexis 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 36 – (1989-03-01)1 March 1989 PF 28 Diallo, Abou (AI) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 30 – (1995-06-30)30 June 1995 PF 41 Akumenzoh, Ebaku (C) 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 36 – (1989-03-07)7 March 1989	Head coach François Enyegue Assistant coach(es) Simon Mbabi Physiotherapist(s) Alfred Nije Legend (C) Team captain (E): BAL Elevate player (WI): World import (AI): African import Injured Roster Updated: May 20, 2022

Past rosters

• 2021 BAL season
• 2022 BAL season

Notable players

• Jordan Rezendes (1 year: 2020)
• Joel Almeida (2 years: 2021–present)
• Alexis Wangmene (1 year: 2022)
• Charles Minlend Jr. (1 year: 2022)
• Ebaku Akumenzoh (2013–15, 2017–present)

Head coaches

• Gilles Kouamo: (–2021)
• Lazare Adingono: (2021)
• François Enyegue: (2021–2023)
• Kevin Ngwese: (2023–2024)
• Laurent Baleba: (2023–2024)

Performance in the Basketball Africa League

Year	Road to BAL			BAL
	W	L	Result	W	L	Result
2021	6	2	Silver	1	3	Quarter-finalist
2022	6	0	Gold	2	3	Fourth Place
2023	1	2	Elite 16	DNQ
Total	13	4	3/3	3	6	2/3