With less than 10 days left to rhe start of the 2025 National Basketball League, here’s a couple of players that will need to turn up big for their teams.

JKL Lady Dolphins

The National team co-captain, Hope Akello has won back-to-back MVPs and it’s no doubt that she’s the center piece of the puzzle for the Lady Dolphins who seek to make it 3 consecutive championships.

Her size advantage has been key in how she plays but as the years have  gone by, she has improved when it comes to creating for her teammates.

She is a snake with multiple heads and can bite you with whichever.  She undoubtedly will be the key to JKL’s success this season.

The second most important player for the 4-time Champions is Evelyne Nakiyingi.

Nakiyingi had an incredible 2024 season and one can make an argument that she deserved to be on the team of the season.

She will be the primary ball handler for the Dolphins and her ability to control the game is one of the most important things they need.

UCU Lady Canons

Bridget Aber is going to be very pivotal to the Lady Canons’ success this year.

Aside from her presence in the paint, the coach needs her to be a leader and this is where most of her work is expected to be.

The Lady Canons have a plethora of options in the big man positions. Sylivia Nantongo and Martina Anyango played their first season in 2024 while Zoe Atek and Sarah Namale will be playing for the Lady Canons this year.

As one of the most experienced players, Aber has a lot to teach these young lads on and off the court.

With the departure of Shakirah Nanvubya, Shillah Lamunu is expected to be the primary ball handler for the Lady Canons.

Her performance against Egypt in the Afrobasket Qualifiers made her very popular and showed how much range she has in her game.

She has to step up as leader on and off the court and has to guide her team to success.

With Tracy Namugosa also gone, she has to find a balance between scoring and controlling the game, plus creating for others.

As the season rolls on, the players will get to understand their roles more and the load on her shall be reduced but at the start, she has to  elevate her game significantly to help her side.

JT Lady Jaguars

Mercy Batamuliza had the most rebounds in the league (399) and was named in the team of the season.

One of her biggest challenges was scoring with efficiency and during the off-season, she has been working on that.

Collecting rebounds is a given for her but the big question is, can she become an efficient/effective scorer.

Adding a player like Shakirah Nanvubya means she has a person that can feed her when she’s close to the rim but she ought to score.

If she figures that out, the JT Lady Jaguars seem unstoppable.

Their second most important player is  Shakirah Nanvubya and her time at the Afrobasket Qualifiers showed how much of a star she is.

She can score the basketball at a high level, attack the rim, shoot from distance but importantly, she controls the game.

Shakirah can read defenses and will often make the right decision.

With her presence, we hope she can unlock Maimuna Nabbosa and Aziida but the biggest thing to watch out for is her connection with the big man Mercy Batamuliza.

If the 2 of them figure things out, teams won’t know what hit them.

KIU Rangers

Ines Kanyamuneza has been the most lethal shooter in the league for a while.

Despite that, she hasn’t been fully utilized by her team. She has been tasked with multiple duties and she gets tired around the start of the fourth quarter in most of the big games.

The KIU Rangers need to create open shots for Ines more so in the difficult games.

Sharon Kirabo showed how much of a threat she can be inside the paint and around the perimeter.

She can rebound, has the fight and when called upon, she scores a couple of shots from the 3-point line.

The Rangers need her to be on her A-game if they hope to make any noise in this season.

KCCA Leopards

With the departure of Sylvester Kazibwe, Perus Nyamwenge is expected to be the primary ball handler for large segments of the season.

Her drive and ability to score is like no other but the Leopards need her to play off the ball a lot more so that they can create for her.

After their horrendous second round last year, many people are looking at the Leopards and asking themselves, what can they do?

The player with the most eyes on her is Perus Nyamwenge and she has to lead her team to success.

Secondly, the Afrobasket shall be happening in July and having missed out on the Afrobasket due to work, Perus will be working harder than ever in order to impress the coaches.

Magic Stormers

When one talks about Magic Stormers, the name Kur Ajah is among the first that is talked about.

Ajah does a lot of work on the post and with every passing year, her game has improved tremendously.

Defensively, her ability to block shota also increased and her ferocious defense made her one of the players to watch out for.

Given her ability to work effectively on both ends of the floor, Ajah is that player who can help take the Magic Stormers to another level.

A1 Challenge

Phiona Apio will be expected to bring an immediate impact to  A1 Challenge.

Straight from winning the Division One Championship with Banyabo, Phiona brings aggression on defense and a couple of baskets.

Most of the players on the A1 Challenge teams may not give you results on a consistent basis, but in Phiona, they have someone that will fight and try to have impact in every game.

Miracle Ravens

Winnifred Akello is a fighter and has showed what she can do in the last 2 seasons.

She hassles for rebounds and does a lot of scoring in the interior.

One of the problems that Miracle Ravens faced was the ability to create for the big guys

Their point guard Brenda Alyano often created for herself and the Ravens’ offense in half court was almost non existent.

However, with the arrival of Prosper Anyine, a person that can slow the game down, maybe we shall start seeing patterns and hopefully Prosper can create and feed Akello.

Nabisunsa

Mpoza Abigail is a youngster that took the NBL by storm in the 2024 season.

She finished the season with an impressive 11.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.4 assists and most importantly was the go-to person for Nabisunsa when they needed a basket.

Martha Yikiru is the second most important player for Nabisunsa because of how much she impacts the game.

She averaged 7.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1 steals and 1.3 assists.

She had the second most doubles for Nabisunsa (3) and with the departure of some player, she will be getting a much big role.

UPDF Lady Tomahawks

The 2023 Division One MVP Lunkuse Stella Marris has so far lived up to the expectations and has been doing great work for the Lady Tomahawks.

Her ability to fight for rebounds and also to be able to score has greatly impacted them.

Stella led UPDF in scoring and rebounds and was among the players with the most double-doubles in the league.

Christine Namyalo had the longest streak while scoring double digits (10) and despite not playing most of the second round games, we all know how lethal she can be.

Her offensive engine helped UPDF win a couple of games and they will need her to step up her game even more so that UPDF can better their 2024 season record.

Angels

After departing from the UPDF Lady Tomahawks in the mid-season transfer window, Martha Patience Likicho returned to Angels and had an immediate impact.

In her first 3 games, she averaged more than 20 points and by the end of the playoffs, her average was over 13 points.

Martha is a threat from the 3-point line but most importantly, she has the ability draw fouls.

In the 2024 Division One playoffs, she averaged more than 6 free throw attempts and most importantly, she converted most of them.

She is a very important player for Angels and they must utilize her very much.

Angel Akuwei almost averaged a double-double in the 2024 FUBA Division One playoffs but it was impressive to see how much her game had grown in such a short time.

Angel looks to be the most competitive of the Angels’ big men and if she continues to grow in the game, she will help Angels secure a couple of wins.

Nkumba Lady Marines

There is no doubt that Kayeny Privas was snubbed for the MVP award in the FUBA 2024 Division One season but she now has an opportunity to show what she can do at a much higher level.

Kayeny can do it all, rebound, score, block shots and we saw she added shots from the 3-point line.

It was very evident how important she is for this Nkumba when she left to represent with the She Cranes and all over a sudden, Nkumba looked stranded and didn’t /couldn’t do anything.

She’s their most important player and her performances will determine where the Lady Marines finish in the overall standings.