Basketball coach Emmanuel Lartey, of academy side 'Basketball School Academy', is eager to see Ghana step up to reach the level of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Lartey, who has been involved with coaching and local academies for more than a decade now, is only a representation of the many stakeholders who desire to see a further growth of the game in the country.

Despite its popularity, basketball is still viewed as one of the many 'lesser' sports in the country, with close to zero support from the state, resulting in its near-'extinction'.

In the wake of an absence of a national league, various regional associations like the Greater Accra Basketball Association host regional tourneys, which many have viewed as 'not enough'. But Lartey believes before an expansion to a broader sphere certain non-existent structures need to be made available.

"What we are saying is that if we need to have this league going on, we need a national basketball stadium, which we don’t have. We need some structures that need to be in place before we can get to that level, so it has taken as a long time in getting here but hopefully like in the next 5-10 years, this whole thing is going to change - Ghana basketball is going to go higher."

Despite a rather low level of growth and investment, Lartey has his sights set on Ghanaian players and teams reaching certain standards on the continent.

"When you look at the Basketball Africa League, Ghana is nowhere to be found. We have about 12 countries participating in it and this is where we want to be part of. This is where Ghana needs to be known and show off that we are part of the African continent and we can do much better than what we are even seeing on TV."

The Basketball Africa League, currently in its second season, is Africa's premier men's basketball competition organized under the auspices of the NBA and FIBA.