Tylor Ongwae


Tylor Ongwae is a Kenyan basketball player for the Nairobi City Thunder of the KBF Premier League and the Basketball Africa League and the Kenya national team. He has known his most successful years in Denmark with Bakken Bears, with whom he won three straight Basketligaen titles and was named Defensive Player of the Year twice.

Professional career

Ongwae averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game during the 2019-20 season with Bakken. He re-signed with the Bears on March 22, 2020. In 2020-21 and 2021–22, he earned All-Danish Basketligaen Defensive Player of the Year honours.
In 2022, he left Bakken after four years to move to Russian side BC Parma.
In May 2023, Ongwae joined the ABC Fighters for the playoffs of the 2023 Basketball Africa League. He became the first Kenyan to play in the BAL. In October 2023, he was signed by the Niners Chemnitz of the German Bundesliga, with whom he won the FIBA Europe Cup.
In August 2024, Ongwae signed in Kenya with the Nairobi City Thunder of the KBF Premier League. He helped the Thunder qualify for their first ever Basketball Africa League season by winning the Road to BAL qualifiers. On May 17, 2025, Ongwae scored a team-high 14 points in his BAL debut, in a 63–92 loss to APR.

Kenyan national team

Ongwae has been part of Kenya's national team. He helped the team capture the silver medal at FIBA AfroCan 2019. Ongawe was a key part in Kenya's qualification for the AfroBasket 2021 in Rwanda, as he scored a buzzer-beater in the decisive qualifying game against Angola. Kenya returned to the AfroBasket after a 28-year drought.

Personal

Tylor Ongwae was raised in Eldoret, Kenya, a town famed for producing world famous marathoners and athletes like Eliud Kipchoge. He has two siblings who also play basketball.