Axel Mpoyo (born January 5, 1997) is a Rwandan basketball player who plays for APR of the

Rwanda Basketball League The Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) (formerly the National Basketball League Rwanda) is the top professional basketball league in Rwanda. Its season usually runs from November to September. The winners of the NBL season qualify for the BAL Qualif ...

(RBL) and

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

(BAL). He also plays for the Rwanda national team.

Early life

Mpoyo was born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

, to a Congolese father rand Rwandanese mother. He has two brothers and a sister. He left the country at an early age for the United States, and attended Meridian High School in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. At Meridian, he also tried football and track running, before opting to pursue basketball after growing to .

College career

Mpoyo played collegiate with

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana, United States. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African ...

, playing for the Tigers basketball team.

Professional career

In his rookie year, Mpoyo played for Cypriot team

APOEL APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

in the

Cyprus Basketball Division A The OPAP Basket League is currently the top-tier level men's professional basketball competition of the Cypriot basketball league system. It is run and governed by the Cyprus Basketball Federation. Format All teams are playing against each othe ...

. He did not finish the season with the team, as he transferred to

KB Trepça Klubi i Basketbollit Trepça is a professional basketball club based in Mitrovica, Kosovo. The club competes domestically in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague and Kosovo Cup (basketball), Kosovo Cup and internationally in the Fiba Europe Cup. Tr ...

in Kosovo mid-season. Mpoyo played with Rwandan team REG starting from the 2021–22 season. He helped REG win the 2021–22 league title, and was named MVP. played with them in the

(BAL) in the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

seasons. In October 2022, Mpoyo joined the Rwandan team APR of the

(RBL). He helped them win the RBL title in 2023 and 2024. In the 2023–24 season, Mpoyo played in Argentina with Pico FC. On June 13, 2025, Mpoyo scored 10 three-point field goals in the

third place game Many sports playoffs and knockout tournaments include a third place playoff, third place match, bronze medal game, or consolation game to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing third and fourth. This game is typically com ...

of the

2025 BAL season The 2025 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 5, will be the 5th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season will begin on 5 April and end on 14 June 2025 with the final. The playoffs and finals will be held in Pretoria, South Africa, ...

, setting a new

(BAL) record. He surpassed the record set by

Will Perry William Kiah Perry (born October 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player. Standing at 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in), Perry plays as point guard. Alumnus of Lenoir–Rhyne University, he has played several years of professional bask ...

, who had scored nine three-pointers. Mpoyo's performance helped APR win the game, setting a league record in most points in a game with 123 and finishing in third place.

National team career

Mpoyo has represented the Rwanda national team, and has played with the team at

FIBA AfroBasket 2021 FIBA AfroBasket 2021 was the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. It was originally scheduled to take place between 17 and 29 August 202 ...

, as well as in other qualifying tournaments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mpoyo, Axel 1997 births Rwandan men's basketball players APOEL B.C. players REG BBC players KB Trepça players APR B.C. players Grambling State Tigers basketball Small forwards Living people