Kenya Moran’s Valentine Nyakinda lands new club

Venezuelan club Toros de Aragua BBC have acquired the services of Kenya Moran’s power forward Valentine Nyakinda, the club officially reported on Friday.

In the club statement, Toros confirmed that Nyakinda was the team’s second acquisition of the year and would be expected to ‘reinforce the horned offense’ in addition to strengthening the team.

“The management of our organization formalized the hiring of the 2.03m tall power forward from Kenya, Valentine Nyakinda,” the club statement read.

Nyakinda becomes the team’s second signing after the Venezuelan club also announced the signing of Dominican Brayam De La Cruz as its first foreign hire for the 2023 season.

Over the last few hours, there has been another man through the door; Dominican Ezequiel Perez – joining the team with vast experience in the league, Santiago and El Salvador tournaments.

“I am grateful for the opportunity that Toros de Aragua and all its fans have given me,” Nyakinda was quoted on Pantalla Sportiva. “I will do my best so that the fans are happy and support us.”

Nyakinda, currently in the US, is expected to line up for the team in readiness for his team’s new season in the SPB Super League. Toros de Aragua begin their regular season on July 9 2023 at home against Bagpipers at the Rafael Romero Bolivar Stadium.

Before that, the team takes part in a series of preseason matches and recruitment modules set to tip-off this weekend.

The 30-year old makes another step in his career that started way back in 2008 when he featured in the Kenyan national team for the FIBA Africa tournament in Egypt. At 16 years of age, he was also involved in the Kenya U18 sides and represented Kenya in the Zone V Afrobasket All Africa qualifiers in 2014 – where he averaged 25 points and 8 rebounds.

Nyakinda recently represented the National team in the World Cup qualifiers where he averaged 7.4 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes.

Kenyan basketball MVP finds a new home in Burundi

He was also part of the historic team that qualified for the 2021 Afrobasket tournament. He averaged 9.4 points, 6 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

In the club level, Nyakinda has turned out for Kenyan sides Kenya Ports Authority and the Ulinzi Warriors. In the Road to BAL 2021, Nyakinda shot a combined 37.2% from the field while averaging 9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.33 assists per game for KPA.

In June 2021, Nyakinda also known as ‘Boozer’ made the trip to Rwanda’s Tigers BC after another successful spell outside Kenya for the PLS Hawks in Seychelles. Then, in the 2017-18 season, Nyakinda averaged 32 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.