UCU start life without Owili

Sep 09, 2011

HE has had more impact on FUBA League basketball than any other newcomer this season. But now Desmond Owili is gone and with him, the title hopes of the UCU Canons.

By Charles Mutebi

HE has had more impact on FUBA League basketball than any other newcomer this season. But now Desmond Owili is gone and with him, the title hopes of the UCU Canons.

Then again, Owili’s departure may galvanise Nick Natuhereza’s side in the championship slugfest as other players step up to fill his void.

Whatever the case, today’s encounter between UCU and the title-hunting Miracle Eagles will provide some answers. Canons will be hoping Miracle doesn’t raise the question on everybody’s mind. Can UCU contend without Owili?

As sports director Uganda Christian University Dave Scully revealed, that is a question the Canons have thought deeply about. Matter of fact, they thought about it before taking the decision to end their relationship with the Kenyan centre last week.

Owili chose to go with Kenya’s netball team at the All Africa Games in Mozambique without the permission of the Mukono-based university, where he had a sports scholarship.

Scully said Owili’s decision left them little choice but to release the player who had similar transgressions in the past.

“It was a situation where our commitment level was higher than Desmond’s,” Scully revealed. The director admitted that Owili’s departure left the Canons with “an uphill task” but added that if they get to the playoffs, “anything can happen”.

Elsewhere, Ndejje take on the Heaters, who are desperate to survive the drop and have signed two new players from Kenya to help in the cause.

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