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Not many saw it coming: Rezlife Saints’ 62-48 victory over City Oilers last week.
It was a win out of the blue for many, considering how Oilers had brushed aside every other opponent in the National Basketball League (NBL), including the defending champions, Namuwongo Blazers.
Oilers were unbeaten in nine, and had two games left, to close out the first round, while Rezlife had already lost twice in nine. Against all odds, Rezlife did the unexpected, which was largely attributed to the discipline and work ethic of the team.
Yet, through all this episode, nothing was more profound as the dominant display of their shooting guard, Edrine Ekau, a 20-year-old, who is blowing away teams in his first season in the NBL.
It is difficult to remember a novice in the NBL that took the league by storm as Ekau. The former Charging Rhinos prodigy first came to the recognition of many back in 2024. This was during the Fiba Africa Under-18 Zone Five Basketball Championship qualifiers that Uganda hosted.
Ekau was shooting lights out to the amazement of the fans, many of whom knew little about him before then. That team’s lead act had been Tejan Rugette, who had flown into the country from the UK.
Yet, here was a local boy hogging the headlines, too; he was soon dubbed the “walking basket”.
He shot from any position on the basketball court; threes and jump shots became largely his signature acts. But stories of players showing dominance at a young age among their age-mates, yet end up flopping when they reach senior level, are not just akin to Uganda.
It is a global issue. Yet, for one reason or the other Ekau is proving defiant. He has taken well to the topflight like a duck to water.
Rezlife Saints coach, Moses Okwera said: “Ekau’s progress in the game can largely be attributed to his discipline, which has seen him follow the fundamentals needed to become a good basketball player. He really trains hard.”
Against Oilers, he scored a game high 25 points. His average thus far has been 18.7 points per game this season. But right from the start, on his debut against UPDF Tomahawks, where he banged in a haul of 22 points, he has left many in awe.
In fact, few would argue that he has been the NBL’s Most Valuable Player in the first round. Undoubtedly, he has arguably had the highest scoring average in the league. To his captain, Michael Otieno, who has been in the NBL for at least a decade, they are blessed to have him.
“Not only is Ekau a good player, who listens and is always willing to learn; but he is also a fantastic human being.”
Ekau has made the Rezlife Saints a better side than they were last season, where they finished eighth in the regular season. Because of his “walking basket” tag, which has proved a menace to many of their opponents, for the Namuwongo Blazers coach, Stephen Nyeko Escodata, having someone track Ekau throughout their game, was what it took to stop Rezlife; they limited he to his lowest score this season of 8 points.
Nonetheless, Rezlife Saints finished the first round seated third on the table standings behind City Oilers and Namuwongo Blazers respectively, largely because of him. For a team that finished the 2025 regular season in eighth place, their fortunes look brighter with the walking basket because it just does not stop giving.
Hopefully it continues in the same vein when the second round of the NBL kicks off on Friday, April 24. That will be Rezlife’s prayer!
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