University League off to a slow start

By Charles Mutebi 

Zuku University Basketball League

Women: Makerere 53 Ndejje 25

Men: Ndejje 59 Makerere 57 

THE Zuku University Basketball League (ZUBL) will officially be launched on Friday. 

After Saturday’s muted start at Makerere, where only two universities were in shape to participate, scheduling the launch ahead of the actual start seems like a brilliant piece of foresight. 

Makerere and Ndejje were the only universities to participate on the opening day of the ZUBL, with Makerere winning the women’s meeting 53-25 and Ndejje edging the men’s clash 59-57. 

Outside the hotly contested men’s game, there was little else to suggest this tournament will explode into the juggernaut the founders envision. Yet this was only the start and perhaps that is the important achievement at this stage. 

In the run-up to Saturday’s action, the ZUBL was hit by the withdrawal from of KIU and Nkumba. The two giants, who have teams in elite National Basketball League, pulled out on account of lacking the logistics to sustain their teams in another league. 

But the move has not been received well by members of the closely-knit basketball fraternity who see a university league as a crucial part in the development cycle of players. Consequently, FUBA have organised a meeting to find a turnaround.