Ahead of the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), Petro Atletico de Luanda has confirmed Jose Neto as their new head coach. The 49-year-old Brazilian replaces Cameroonian Lazare Adingono, who joined in 2012.
Adingono guided the Angolan giants to two League titles (2015 and 2019), two Angolan Cup trophies (2013 and 2014) and the 2015 FIBA Africa Champions Cup crown. He is the uncle of the Cameroon national team and Petro Atlético player Parfait Bitee. He also coached the Cameroon men’s national team at the 2007 and 2009 FIBA Africa Championships.
The reigning Angolan champions confirmed Neto’s appointment via their social media platforms and he replied: “Thanks for the trust, we are together. Let’s go.”
Neto started in Brazil’s national men’s program in 2005 and has enjoyed some success at domestic and continental levels in recent years. Some of his acheivements include four consecutive titles in the Brazilian League (NBB) from 2012 to 2016. He has also led Brazilian and South American heavyweights Flamengo to the 2014 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
More recently, Neto coached his country at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020, although they missed out on qualifying for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo.
According to media reports in Brazil, he will continue as head coach of Brazil women’s national team.
He also served as assistant coach to Brazil men’s team at several major tournaments, namely the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 and the Olympics (2012 and 2016).
Winner of the 2019 Angolan League, Petro de Luanda will represent the country at the highly-anticipated BAL, where they will play compete against AS Douanes (Senegal), Association Sportive Sale (Morocco), AS Police (Mali), GNBC (Madagascar) and GS Petroliers of Algeria in the Sahara Conference.
Early this year, the Angolan Basketball Federation (FAB) suspended the local league following the outbreak of the coronavirus, and even though no champion was declared for the 2020 season, Petro de Luanda was handed the right to represent the country at next year’s BAL.
