Basketball in Africa

4 members of the Cape Verde National Team, among the newest members, are current or recent college players. Two of these collegians - 6′9″ Vinny Lima, now playing for Northeastern University in Boston, and Ivan Almeida, who completed 2 years at Mohawk Valley Community College in New York, have played with the team in the past. Providence College Senior guard and leading scorer Jeff Xavier, J/X, and recent U-Mass Graduate Tony Barros, until recently the newest member of the squad, complete the list of collegiate players.

2 Professional players playing in Europe: 6′9″ power forward Peter Cipriano, who plays in Finland, and guard Avery Oliver, who plays in Germany, complete the alterations to the roster. The remaining corps of players mainly play pro in Europe or Africa, specifically Portugal or Angola.

This mix of youth and veterans will hopefully serve the team well as they face New Zealand and Germany July 14th and 15th.

Jeff Xavier led Providence College in scoring with 12.4 ppg, and also led the Big East conference in steals.

Cape Verde could at times have as many as 3 collegiate players on the court at once, with Xavier and Barros vying for starting spots at the shooting and point guard positions, respectively, and Lima and Almeida reserves at forward and guard. Almeida, at 6′6″, can play several positions including small forward.