Igor Rwigema is a Congolese-Canadian basketball coach. Originally from

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 ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, Rwigema emigrated to Quebec and resides in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

. He established a basketball program at Collège d'Alma in

Alma, Quebec Alma (; 2021 Town population: 30,331; UA Population 20,274) is a town in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in the Canadian province of Quebec. History The present town of Alma was formed in 1962 from the merging of four villages: Isle-Maligne, Naudv ...

before moving it to

Cégep de Thetford Cégep de Thetford is a College of general and vocational education (CEGEP) in Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 671 boulevard Frontenac Ouest. It was established in 1969. The Cégep de Thetford welcomes international students t ...

Thetford Mines, Quebec Thetford Mines (; Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality. The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 187 km east-northeast of Mo ...

. The program helped develop future NBA player Chris Boucher among other high-level professional and university-level players such as Tidjan Keita. In 2020, filmmakers Aude Leroux-Lévesque and Sébastien Rist premiered a documentary about Rwigema and the Thetford academy team entitled "L'Academie." In March 2022, Rwigema returned to basketball after undergoing treatment to deal with colon cancer. In December 2022, Rwigema was introduced as the first head coach of the Montreal Tundra, a new

The Basketball League The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a professional basketball league. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and has since expanded. TBL's regular season runs from Feb ...

team set to begin play in March 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rwigema, Igor Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Canada Sportspeople from Kinshasa Black Canadian sportsmen Democratic Republic of the Congo basketball coaches