::. Name: ABEL HERVE' NSON . Team: KCB Lions. Position: Guard

Veteran Shooting guard, Abel Nson has moved to The Kenya Commercial Bank-KCB Lions from The Tigers of United States International University-USIU for the 2007 Season. During his reign at USIU, Nson led the Tigers to numerous victories, more natably the East Africa University Games-EAUG Championship in 2004 and the Universities and Colleges Basketball League championships in 2005.

Abel Nson (who is known to many as Ali Baba) set foot in Kenya (in April 2003) from Cameroon and immediately caught the attention of those within the basketball circles for various reasons: - His game and his attitude of always speaking his mind. Nson, started playing basketball in 1992 while in school in Cameroon. He started competing competitively in 1996 while playing for EsPoir De Yaoundé. He then moved to Social Security Fund team and later to Visions basketball team. In 2003, Nson came to Kenya and joined the USIU Men's basketball team- Tigers. Nson's inspiration for playing basketball is the love of the game. “Basketball is a beautiful game, and I enjoy playing it” he points out.
Back home in Cameroon, Nson was in 1998 and 1999 named to the Cameroon National team, an indication that the authorities had recognized his talent and skill. In 1998, Nson was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Junior finals League- 1998, he won the 3-point shootout competition in 1999-2000, and again voted the MVP this time in the Men's Cup Finals in 2000.

In the Community:- Nson as Coach at the ALSA JaMalaria Camp 2006

In Kenya, The outspoken guard has stayed on top of his game, and has already left a mark in the basketball scene, especially when it comes to shooting 3-pointers. Nson has achieved a lot in Kenya including being voted MVP in the 2003 USIU Open tournament, Most Dependable Player MDP in the UCBL Pre-Season Tournament 2004. Later the same year he led the Tigers to the East Africa University Games basketball championship scoring 21 points and was named Most Disciplined Player. Nson points out the EAUG championship with the Tigers as his greatest achievement so far. Early this year, Nson was selected to the Kenya Universities Men's basketball team, and played for them in the Inter-cities tournament (March 2005) in Mombasa where he emerged the top scorer. In April 2005, Nson scored 24 points as the Tigers mauled Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute (KCITI) Wildcats 110-78 to lift the University and Colleges Basketball League championship for the first time.
Currently, Nson is captain of the Tigers as they play in the Kenya Basketball Federation Men's Premier League for the fourth year. His nickname- Ali Baba was given to him by fans back in Cameroon because of his ever unpredictable shooting and crazy/fancy lay-ups.

::. Opinion on Kenya's Basketball

According to Nson, “There is a high Level of organization, exposure and competition in Kenya's basketball, and also a lot of raw talent” he says. “But the talent needs to be nurtured so as basketball can progress” he adds. Nson also points out that on his arrival; he was impressed with the level of basketball in the country especially when it came to exposure and talent, pointing out that Kenyan teams get to play in numerous tournaments out of the country. But since then he hasn't seen any improvement yet. This he attributes to various reasons. “The coaches in the league need to have an open mind. They play the old players day-in day-out and that kills the upcoming players morale ” he says. And secondly, the referees also need the same. Have an open mind, and stop personalizing issues, because clearly I can have a bad game today and lose my head , but that doesn't mean that the same will happen tomorrow or it will always be like that” He stresses.
Nevertheless, Nson appreciates basketball in the country and enjoys playing. “The competition is very unpredictable, you don't know what to expect and that's challenging”
Nson is a Business Administration Student at USIU. His mentor is his dad, Dr Nson Henri'. His favorite basketball player in the world is “………definitely Allen Iverson. He's got GAME and style”

::. In the Community:
Nson has a passion for community service and giving back to the society. He was in attendance at the ALSA organized JaMalaria Basketball Camp | Aug 2006, as he joined other players in the fight against Malaria while sharing their basketball skills with the youth. More on JaMalaria

::. Ambition:
“Own a business organization”

::. Personal Philosophy:
“Whatever you do, do it at your best and never half way. Second place sucks!”

©2004-2009An Official ALSA™ Product All Rights Reserved No portion of alsabasketball.co.ke may be duplicated, redistributed, or manipulated in any form without authorized permission or acknowledgement of source. the Webmaster | Sponsors