Wednesday, June 8
•KIU Rangers 83-51 Nkumba Lady Marines
•UPDF Tomahawks 73-85 City Oilers
City Oilers’ small forward Luak Ruai played his last game for the seven-time league winners as they beat UPDF Tomahawks in the Tusker-Lite sponsored NBL tie at Lugogo.
Ruai will next week leave the country for Georgia (Eastern Europe) where he is signing a professional contract and he will be furthering his studies.
“Yes, I am going to Tbilisi, Georgia,” Ruai confirmed to The-SportsNation after finishing the game with 7 points in 18 minutes.
Watch – Luak Ruai – The Last Dance With City Oilers
The move has been Masterminded by Rosette International Group Limited, a sports agency that deals with Professional and upcoming talent.
“First for me is a camp that has been organised for about 30 days that will train us and prepare for Euro basketball, and then I hope to start my pro basketball in October,” he added.
Born June 26 2004, the 6’5ft Ruai leaves City Oilers after less than two years and it has been meteoric rise for the player who won Division One Silver medal with Nam Blazers in 2019.
His first taste of Basketball was in 2016 after his Primary Seven when he joined Kings College Buddo.
Thereafter, he joined Kibuli SS that was under coach Henry Malinga who moulded him into a good player he is today.
In his S.4, he joined Nam Blazers under coach Stephen ‘Esco’ Nyeko and Manager Hajji Farouk Zzinda. “There I got to play real and competitive basketball, and they helped me become a good player.”
He is a product of IHoops (2017-2019) and DANKID Academy (2019-2022).
“IHoops also helped me to grow, I was coached by a couple of my teammates at City Oilers like Jimmy Enabu, Ben Komakech, James Okello etc.”
“So, it has been a nice journey, I gave it my all and playing at City Oilers teaches you a lot including patience, organisation, discipline and so on.”
After the 85-73 win, it was all emotional for the youngster who was ambushed by a couple of fans and friends for a photo moments before he was given a send-off by his Oilers teammates.
He is the latest player to leave Oilers for a stint abroad since Otim Jonah left for United States in 2018.
Enabu (24) and Drilleba (21) combined for 45 points as Oilers staged a strong second quarter to overcome UPDF Tomahawks for their 13th win the season.
In the other game, Perus Nyamwenge scored 35 points as KIU Rangers eased past Nkumba Lady Marines to record a 83-51 victory.
