The Hamilton Honey Badgers announced Tuesday that they have re-signed All-CEBL First team star Jean-Victor Mukama for the 2021 season. Mukama had a breakout rookie showing during the CEBL Summer Series leading Hamilton in scoring with 14.1 points per game and ranking second in rebounding average (6.3) and minutes played (26.1).

           “JV’s work ethic and coachability has allowed him to develop and mature as a player”, said Honey Badgers General Manager Jermaine Anderson. “We are confident that he will continue to be a budding star in this league”.

           “We’re really excited to bring JV back for a second season”, said Hamilton Head Coach Ryan Schmidt. “He was someone who was instrumental in our success last summer and showed tremendous growth as a player in his rookie season. JV is the perfect example of what we are about in our organization when it comes to developing and improving players. He has a bright future ahead of him and I can’t wait to continue to see the strides he makes.”

           Mukama was perhaps the CEBL’s most improved player over the course of the Summer Series and was selected as Hamilton’s Player of the Game in the team’s final three outings when he averaged 25.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and shot .565 from the field.

           A graduate of Académie Catholique Mére-Teresa in Hamilton, Mukama went on to play at Ryerson University. He spent time on the Raptors 905 practice squad in 2019 before being called to the Kigali Patriots in Rwanda. He helped lead the Patriots to win the Rwandan League final and represent the country in two qualifying rounds for the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

            Mukama is the Honey Badgers second signing since the CEBL’s free agency window opened February 1. He is currently playing for Aris Leeduwarden of the Dutch Basketball League, where he is averaging 10.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 29.3 minutes per game through seven games.

           Hamilton is coming off a 4-4 record and third place finish in last July’s CEBL Summer Series, which marked the first professional sports league in Canada to return to play after Covid-19 halted sports in Canada. More than 1.2 million viewers across Canada watched games live on CBC, and games were carried to more than 130 million viewers around the world.