Rivers Hoopers Set Sights on Historic Three-Peat as 2025 NBPL Tip-Off Date Confirmed
Reigning Nigeria Premier Basketball League (NBPL) champions Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club will be among sixteen elite teams competing for the 2025 NBPL title, as the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) officially announces the season’s schedule and structure.
According to a communiqué jointly signed by League Chairman Babatunde Ogunade and NBBF Secretary General Amina O. Amanchi, the 2025 NBPL season will run from August 28 to November 16, preceded by a registration period from August 11 to August 28.
The league will unfold in four competitive phases: Group Stage, Inter-Group Stage, Playoffs, and Final Four. The sixteen participating teams have been divided into four groups of four, spread across the Savannah and Atlantic Conferences, with two groups per conference. Game venues are yet to be announced.
In the Atlantic Conference, Rivers Hoopers have been placed in Group B alongside Delta Force, Oluyole Warriors, and Kwara Falcons. Group A features Comets, Police Batons, Lagos Legends, and Hoops and Read.
The Savannah Conference sees Nile University, Nigeria Customs, Gboko City Chiefs, and Correctional Service in Group A, while Group B includes Kano Pillars, Plateau Peaks, Gombe Bulls, and Bauchi Nets.
Each team will play six games during the Group Stage—home and away against the other three teams in their group. All eight teams from each conference will then converge at a central venue for the Inter-Group Stage, where each team will play seven games, facing every other team once.
The top four teams from each conference will advance to the Playoffs, which will be contested in a knockout format. The final phase, the Final Four, will feature a round-robin format where each team plays the others once. The team with the highest points tally at the end of this stage will be crowned 2025 NBPL Champions.
Rivers Hoopers, who clinched their sixth league title in November 2024 with a commanding 71–54 victory over Hoops and Read in the playoff final, are aiming to retain their crown for a third consecutive season—a feat that would mark a historic three-peat in Nigerian basketball.
