BENGUELA (Angola) - Since Uganda's AfroBasket debut in 2015, the Silverbacks have become a team to be reckoned with in African basketball scene, and they show now signs of slowing down. 

And part of that rise in Africa basketball's ranks is attributed to a number of factors including the relaunching of their youth basketball programs, the additions of members of the Ugandan community in the diaspora and, more importantly, their perseverance in competing at the highest level on the continent.

"IF YOU LOOK AT THE TALENT LEVEL OF THE GUYS THAT WE HAVE WHEN THEY'RE AVAILABLE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM WE HAVE SO MANY GUYS WHO CAN DO SO MUCH FOR US."- Eric Rwahwire

The Silverbacks moved from a 1-4 record in the 2015 edition of the African Champions in Tunisia to finishing sixth at 2021 AfroBasket. 

In between those two events,  the East Africans registered a 1-5 mark in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers, but it's in the the last twelve months that the Silverbacks' proved their resilience, especially after securing their third straight AfroBasket ticket in a hard-fought Qualifiers campaign that saw them beat Morocco in Morocco. 

The likes of Ismail Wainwright, Brandon Davies, and head coach George Galanopoulos have been fundamental for the Silverbacks' transformation, so has been the impact of Uganda's new generation of players led by Arthur Kaluma, Adam Seiko, Deng Geu and Eric Rwahwire.

"It's the core guys: Jimmy [Enabu], Toni [Drileba], it's the core guys that built the thing and the coaches that developed them," Rwahwire said when asked to share his experience of donning the Silverbacks jersey.

"Coach George, Coach Mike Schmitz. Those guys are doing an amazing job of getting guys together and building something. They just do a tremendous job of making it what it is now. It started with those core guys. They've been through it all. They've been through the bottom and it's just a good thing to see it pay off. It's satisfying from the outside looking in, knowing what they came from, hearing the stories that they had to go through when they first started traveling and making these tournaments, qualifying... It's amazing and I'm just grateful to be part of it. And I think that it's still growing," Rwahwire explained.

For Canada-raised Rwahwire,  playing for Uganda has been special. "I've learned a lot about African basketball in a short amount of time. The physicality of it. How crazy these games can be and how up and down it can be. It's been my favorite brand of basketball to play. It's the most meaningful basketball that I have ever played in my life. I look forward to representing every time I have the chance. It's been awesome."

Rwahwire went on saying: "We don't even know our limit because we never really got a chance to prepare the way that I think we should going into these tournaments. But if you look at the talent level of the guys that we have when they're available from top to bottom we have so many guys who can do so much for us. When we have even just a little bit of time you see the damage that we can do. Just like we did at AfroBasket. When we have proper preparation we can actually see if there is a limit. But we will never know until we get that chance."

 
Rwahwire's 9.3 points per game were crucial in helping Uganda secure a win in the first round of Group A of 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers last November in Benguela, Angola. 

However, Rwahwire feels that they can do better than they've done in Benguela. 

"You never want to be 1-2 going into the next window and be in the bottom tier but I think we can learn from these games," the 1.96m (6ft 5in) noted.

"I think that going into the next window that the more guys that we have, the more time that we have to prepare, that's going to really help. Nonetheless it just comes down to us playing our type of basketball.

"The more prepared we are the higher chances we have of playing our type of basketball on a consistent basis from the first quarter to the fourth. That's the main thing. Preparation is the main thing. It's crucial for us. It's so crucial. It's the only real lesson that we could take from this. Our situation just wasn't ideal," Rwahwire stressed.

Eric Rwahwire is seen here celebrating Uganda's qualification after a win over Morocco

Uganda associate head coach Many Juruny, who led the team in Benguela echoed Rwahwire's views: "As a team, as a country, we're going to sit down together and reflect on this and just come back better. I know that with good preparations and the type of game that we play and the players that we have I think we will be better. We will be good. 

"Us coming and playing World Cup Qualifiers is a big deal for us. We try as much as possible to represent our country as best we can. I think this group of guys did a fantastic job under the circumstances. We had three games, won one. We want to build off that and just keep developing. Just keep getting better," said former point guard of the Silverbacks Juruny, who coached his country at 2015 AfroBasket.

FIBA