South Sudan’s men’s basketball team is set to make its Olympic debut and will have a chance to face Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The rapid rise of the South Sudan Basketball Federation (South Sudan gained independence as a nation in 2011, less than two decades ago) is one of the positive stories of this year’s Olympics, and a credit to the efforts of former NBA star Luol Deng, who is the club’s president and assistant coach.
South Sudan’s men’s basketball team performed strongly in their international debut at the 2023 World Cup and qualified for the Olympic Games.
Can this team make it to Paris in its first appearance? Let’s take a look at the South Sudanese men’s basketball team.
List of South Sudanese basketball players at the 2024 Olympics
The South Sudanese men’s basketball team features two players with NBA experience: Carlik Jones and Wenyen Gabriel.
Gabriel played five games with the Memphis Grizzlies last season. Jones played seven games with Chicago in the 2022-23 season. The rest of the roster features several international players.
A look at the 12-man roster:
| NO. | Point of sale | NAME | high | EQUIPMENT | LEAGUE |
| 0 | is | Young Madut | 6-6 | Tasmanian Jumpers | NBL (Australia) |
| 1 | SF | Nuni Omot | 6-9 | Suns of Taichung | T1 League (China) |
| 2 | is | Carlik Jones | 6-0 | KK Partizan | Euroleague |
| 6 | C | Khaman Maluach | 7-1 | AS Customs | BAL (Africa) |
| 8 | SF | Kuany Kuany | 6-7 | Thunder of Keilor | Victoria (Australia) |
| eleven | Page | Marial Shayok | 6-6 | Celts of Maine | NBA G League |
| 12 | C | Deng Acuoth | 6-10 | The Knox Raiders | NBL (Australia) |
| 13 | Public relations | Major Deng | 6-9 | Tasmanian Jumpers | NBL (Australia) |
| 14 | is | Pedro Jok | 6-6 | Baskets of cholet | Pro A (France) |
| twenty-one | C | Koch bar | 6-11 | Horsens integrated circuit | Basketball League (Denmark) |
| 32 | PF | Wenyen Gabriel | 6-9 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Euroleague |
| 44 | C | Sunday of December | 6-5 | Adelaide 36ers | NBL (Australia) |
South Sudanese basketball coaches
Royal Ivey, who played 11 seasons in the NBA and is currently an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets, is the head coach of South Sudan. Deng, who was born in Wau, Sudan, played 16 seasons in the NBA. He is an assistant coach for this year’s team. Fortune Solomon is also an assistant coach.
Is Bol Bol on South Sudan’s list?
Phoenix forward Bol Bol – son of Sudanese basketball legend Manute Bol – was on South Sudan’s 25-man training camp roster but will not play in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Bol Bol averaged 5.2 points per game for the Suns last season.
Manute Bol, a 2.38-metre center who played 13 seasons in the NBA between 1985 and 1997, is the country’s most famous basketball player. He died in 2010.
How South Sudan reached the Olympics
South Sudan qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics with an impressive showing at the 2023 World Cup. South Sudan finished with a 3-2 record, earning 17th place and Africa’s automatic berth at the Olympics.
In the group stage, South Sudan lost to Puerto Rico 101-96 in overtime, beat China 89-69 and lost to Serbia 115-83.
In the qualifying round, South Sudan defeated the Philippines 87-68 and Angola 101-78. Jones and Gabriel impressed in the tournament as South Sudan averaged 91.6 points per game.
This has created some excitement ahead of Paris.
South Sudan Olympic Basketball Schedule
South Sudan will play in Group C of the men’s basketball tournament. The other teams in Group C are Serbia, Puerto Rico and the United States.
South Sudan match schedule
- Sunday, July 28: vs. Puerto Rico (11 a.m. ET)
- Wednesday, July 31: vs. United States (9 p.m. ET)
- Saturday, August 3: vs. Serbia (9:00 p.m. ET)
History of African basketball teams at the Olympic Games
A look at how FIBA Africa teams have fared in men’s basketball at the Olympic Games.
Egypt is the only team to have finished in the top 10. The Egyptian men’s basketball team finished 3-3 and took ninth place at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Angola was the last team to win more than one match at the Summer Olympics. In 1996, Angola finished with a 2-5 record, four years after losing 116-48 to the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona.
FIBA Africa teams at the Olympic Games
| YEAR | COUNTRY | RECORD | PLACE |
| 1936 | Egypt | 1-3 | fifteen |
| 1948 | Egypt | 2-5 | 19th |
| 1952 | Egypt | 3-3 | 9th |
| 1968 | Senegal | 1-8 | fifteen |
| 1968 | Morocco | 0-9 | 16 |
| 1972 | Senegal | 1-8 | 12th |
| 1972 | Egypt | 0-9 | 16 |
| 1976 | Egypt | 0-7 | 12th |
| 1980 | Senegal | 1-6 | 11th |
| 1984 | Egypt | 0-7 | 12th |
| 1988 | Central African Republic | 2-5 | 10th |
| 1988 | Egypt | 0-7 | 12th |
| 1992 | Angola | 2-5 | 10th |
| nineteen ninety six | Angola | 2-5 | 11th |
| 2000 | Angola | 0-6 | 12th |
| 2004 | Angola | 0-6 | 12th |
| 2008 | Angola | 0-5 | 12th |
| 2012 | Nigeria | 1-4 | 10th |
| 2012 | Tunisia | 0-5 | 11th |
| 2016 | Nigeria | 1-4 | 11th |
| 2020 | Nigeria | 0-3 | 10th |
| 2024 | South Sudan | Determined | Determined |
