South Sudan men's national basketball team

Last updated

South Sudan
SSBF logo.png
FIBA ranking 23 Increase2.svg 11 (15 August 2024) [1]
Joined FIBA 2013
FIBA zone FIBA Africa
National federation South Sudan Basketball Federation (SSBF)
Coach Royal Ivey
Nickname(s)Bright Stars
Olympic Games
Appearances1
FIBA World Cup
Appearances 1
Afrobasket
Appearances1
First international
Unofficial
Flag of Uganda.svg Power 86–84 South Sudan  Flag of South Sudan.svg

(Juba, South Sudan; 13 July 2011)
Official
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 87–76 South Sudan  Flag of South Sudan.svg
(Cairo, Egypt; 12 March 2017)
Biggest win
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 60–115 South Sudan  Flag of South Sudan.svg
(Nairobi, Kenya; 17 January 2020)
Biggest defeat
Flag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan 83–115 Serbia  Flag of Serbia.svg
(Quezon City, Philippines; 30 August 2023)

The South Sudan men's national basketball team is the national basketball team representing South Sudan. It was established in May 2011, and became a member of FIBA in December 2013. [2] They are nicknamed the Bright Stars.

Contents

The most recently founded national basketball team in FIBA, South Sudan has already played at one AfroBasket tournament in 2021 and the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

History

The team played its first unofficial match in Juba against Ugandan club champions Power on 13 July 2011. Power won the match 86–84. [3]

In 2016, the team played in an exhibition tournament named Indigenous Basketball Competition in Vancouver, Canada. [4]

On 9 January 2016, it was announced by the South Sudan Basketball Federation that Jerry Steele would become the new head coach of the men's national team for preparation of the 2017 AfroBasket competition. Through the agreement Steele would be under contract until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. [5]

In the 2017 AfroBasket qualifiers, the team was placed in Zone 5 Group A, with Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda. South Sudan played its first official international game on 12 March 2017, against Egypt in Cairo. [6] They would lose to Egypt by 11 points (87–76) in the first match on 12 March. Two days later the national team got it first victory in group stage against Kenya by 2 (68–66). The next day, the team relieved its next loss by ten (80–90) to Rwanda, later placing them in the Classification game. On 12 March, the team would beat Kenya in the Classification game in OT (84–89).

Coach Steele and the South Sudan Basketball Federation parted ways by mutual agreement on 3 October 2017.

On 7 November 2017, Scott Catt was appointed to be the new head coach of the men's national team by the South Sudan Basketball Federation. Madut Bol, son of the late Manute Bol, was also named as assistant head coach of the men's national team. [7]

In November 2020, former NBA All-Star Luol Deng became the president of the SSBF. [8] He also briefly coached the team. In September 2021, Royal Ivey, assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, became the head coach of the team. [9] At AfroBasket 2021, South Sudan made its debut at a major tournament and reached the round of 16 after defeating Uganda and Cameroon in the preliminary round. In the round of 16, South Sudan beat Kenya, in the quarterfinals the team lost to defending champions Tunisia.

South Sudan (black) vs China (white) at the 2023 World Cup. FIBA World Cup Araneta Coliseum CHN vs SSD.jpg
South Sudan (black) vs China (white) at the 2023 World Cup.

In the following 2023 FIBA World Cup qualification games, the Bright Stars impressed and had an unbeaten record in the first round (6–0), beating the defending African champions Tunisia twice and qualifying for their first World Cup in the third round with two games left. In the second round, again coached by Royal Ivey, they had another successful streak in order to qualify for South Sudan's first-ever World Cup in 2023. [10]

On August 28, South Sudan earned its first World Cup victory with a dominant win over China in Quezon City, Philippines. [11] South Sudan qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by finishing as the best African team in the World Cup, beating Angola in their final game. This will be their first-ever Olympics. [12]

In exhibition play leading up to the 2024 Olympics, South Sudan played the United States and lost by just one point, 100–101, to a team led by four former NBA MVP winners, including LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. [13] On the opening day of the Olympics, South Sudan stunned Puerto Rico for their first Olympic victory in the first game of group play, winning 90–79. [14] Carlik Jones led the way with 19 points. [15] The Bright Stars lost their two following games to the United States [16] and Serbia, and thus did not advance past the preliminary stage. [17]

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games record
YearRoundPositionGPWL
Flag of Brazil.svg 2016 Did not enter
Flag of Japan.svg 2020
Flag of France.svg 2024 Preliminary round9th312
TotalBest: 9th312

Record against other teams at the Olympics

CountryW–L
Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Puerto Rico 1–0
Flag of the United States.svg United States 0-1
Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia 0-1
Total record1-2
Overall historic score261-278

Last updated: 1 August 2024

FIBA World Cup

FIBA Basketball World Cup recordQualification record
YearRoundPositionGPWLGPWL
Flag of Spain.svg 2014 Did not enterAfroBasket served as qualification
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 2019 Did not enter
Flag of the Philippines.svg / Flag of Japan.svg / Flag of Indonesia.svg 2023 Classification round17th53212111
Flag of Qatar.svg 2027 To be determinedTo be determined
TotalBest: Classification round17th53212111

FIBA AfroBasket

AfroBasket recordQualification record
YearRoundPositionGPWLGPWL
Flag of Tunisia.svg 2015 Did not enterDid not enter
Flag of Tunisia.svg / Flag of Senegal.svg 2017 Did not qualify422
Flag of Rwanda.svg 2021 Quarter-finals7th5321385
Flag of Angola.svg 2025 To be determinedTo be determined
TotalBest: Quarter-finals7th53217107

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

A 50-player roster was announced on 30 April 2024. [18] It was cut to 25 players on 3 June 2024. [19] The roster was announced on 24 July 2024. [20] [21]

South Sudan men's national basketball team – 2024 Olympics roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
PG 4 Carlik Jones 26 – (1997-12-23)23 December 19971.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Partizan Flag of Serbia.svg
F 5 Nuni Omot 29 – (1994-10-03)3 October 19942.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Ningbo Rockets Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
C 6 Khaman Maluach 17 – (2006-09-14)14 September 20062.16 m (7 ft 1 in) Duke Blue Devils Flag of the United States.svg
SF 7 Bul Kuol 27 – (1997-01-10)10 January 19972.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Sydney Kings Flag of Australia (converted).svg
SF 8 Kuany Kuany  (C)30 – (1994-07-08)8 July 19942.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Free agent
F/C 9 Wenyen Gabriel 27 – (1997-03-26)26 March 19972.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv Flag of Israel.svg
PF 10 JT Thor 21 – (2002-08-26)26 August 20022.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Charlotte Hornets Flag of the United States.svg
SG 11 Marial Shayok 29 – (1995-07-26)26 July 19951.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
PG 12 Jackson Makoi 24 – (2000-07-03)3 July 20001.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Cairns Taipans Flag of Australia (converted).svg
PF 13 Majok Deng 31 – (1993-03-01)1 March 19932.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Tasmania JackJumpers Flag of Australia (converted).svg
SG 14 Peter Jok 30 – (1994-03-30)30 March 19941.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Ottawa BlackJacks Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
G 15 Sunday Dech 30 – (1994-01-01)1 January 19941.95 m (6 ft 5 in) East Perth Eagles Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 27 July 2024

Head coaches

The following is a list of all head coaches of South Sudan:

CoachTenureMajor tournaments
Flag of South Sudan.svg Deng Lek & Bil Duany 2011–2016
Flag of the United States.svg Jerry Steele 2016–2017
Flag of the United States.svg Scott Catt 2017–? [23] [24]
Flag of South Sudan.svg Ajou Deng 2020 [25]
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Luol Deng 2020–2021; 2023 [26]
Flag of the United States.svg Royal Ivey 2021–present 2021 AfroBasket
2023 World Cup

2024 Olympics

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luol Deng</span> South Sudanese basketball player

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