The team competes regularly in the African Championship and is administered by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Basket-Ball.

[2] With two AfroBasket titles and six overall finals appearances, the country is traditionally home to one of the continent's finest basketball national teams.

Another run the following year, in 1981, saw Côte d'Ivoire finally break through and win their first title, as they defeated Egypt for the championship.

They remarkably did so (actually, they won by a combined 73 points), dispatching even African powerhouses and already-qualified Nigeria by a score of 72–46 in the process.

Combined with a loss for the Central African Republic against Nigeria, Ivory Coast finished third in the group and qualified for the World Championship by virtue of a better total points difference than Cameroon.