Cameroon to compete in China’s Peak basketball tourney.

The last time Cameroon was on the starting block of the competition was in 2018.

FECABASKET on its statement announcing team Cameroon’s participation in the 2026 tournament, also unveiled the list of players who have been summoned for the assignment and the coaching team that will accompany the delegation.

The playing squad includes a blend of players from the domestic basketball championship in Cameroon and foreign-based stars. 

It is headlined by Basketball Lions captain Fabien Ateba who recently registered a monstrous performance with Cameroon to lead the team to the final round of the qualifiers to the 2027 Basketball World Cup. The biggest newcomer in the group is the United States-based NBA star, John Tonje. 

Tonje, 25, was drafted into the NBA by Utah Jazz basketball club during the 2025 NBA Draft. He made his debut in the famed United States topflight basketball championship during the 2026 season, representing the competition’s record 18-time champions the Boston Celtics and the franchise’s youth team, Maine Celtics.

Another storied new face in the group is Fondong James of 2026 Cameroon elite basketball championship title winners BEAC Basketball of Yaounde.

The youngster made his first-ever appearance in the Lions’ den last month when he trained with the team in the buildup to the selection’s participation in the return leg of the first round of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers. 

Familiar names in the group include Ulrich Chomche Kamka of Toronto Raptors in the NBA, shooting guard Valentine Lele and point guard Gbetkom Samir. 

Per the basketball federation, the group will be managed in the tournament by former Cameroon international and 2007 vice African champion, Parfait Bitee, who recently coached Cameroon in the final phase of the 2026 Under17 Basketball World Cup in Turkiye. 

He will be assisted by Auguste Siedjou, who made his international coaching debut earlier this month while serving as an assistant to Basketball Lions lead trainer, Alfred Aboya during the 2027 Basketball World Cup qualifying series.

Crucial tournament 

FECABASKET, in its statement, did not reveal the reason behind Cameroon’s decision to compete in the Chinese invitational tournament. 

But Cameroonian basketball connoisseurs suggest that the federation might have taken the decision in a move to use the event as an ideal platform to generate funds and actively get the Cameroonian players ready for forthcoming competitive international assignments.

Top amongst the international assignments that sources believe that the China tournament will strongly help the Basketball Lions prepare for is the upcoming second and final round of the African qualifiers to the 2027 Basketball World Cup.

Cameroon comfortably sailed through to the second round after winning five of its six matches in the first round to top a Group A that also included basketball powerhouses in South Sudan, Cabo Verde and Libya.

But the team is expected to face a more daunting task when it challenges South Sudan, Cabo Verde, Tunisia, Nigeria and Guinea Conakry in Group E of the second and final round where only two automatic qualification tickets will be up for grabbing. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3842 of Thursday July 09, 2026