A Guide to the South Sudan Men’s Basketball Team
South Sudan joined FIBA in 2013. In the decade since the Federation has impressively built one of the top basketball operations in Africa. Having appeared at their first AfroBasket tournament in 2023, ‘The Bright Stars’ also made their FIBA Basketball World Cup debut.
Discover everything there is to know about the South Sudan men’s basketball team with this guide from Courtside 1891. Read on to discover more about their best results and top players.
2024 Summer Olympics - Men's Basketball
The South Sudan men's basketball team are confirmed as one of the twelve nations that will compete at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. South Sudan automatically qualified for Paris 2024 thanks to their impressive debut performance at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The Olympic basketball events will take place between 27th July and 10th of August 2024. The nations currently confirmed to participate are France (host), Canada, Serbia, the United States, Japan, Germany, Australia and South Sudan.
The four remaining places will be confirmed through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024, which you can stream live with Courtside 1891. The tournaments are currently scheduled for July 2-7 2024.
Egypt, Angola, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon are the competing African nations.
From Europe, the competing Olympic qualifying tournament nations are Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Montenegro, Greece, Georgia, Finland, Poland and Croatia.
Puerto Rico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Mexico advanced from the Americas region, following positive results at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. They will be joined by the Bahamas, who shocked Argentina in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in La Banda, Argentina.
From Asia and Oceania, the teams that advanced were Lebanon, the Philippines, New Zealand and Bahrain.
How Did South Sudan Do At The FIBA World Cup 2023?
Here are the top stats from Georgia's FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign:
- → Final Standing: 17th
- → Results: Played 5 Won 3 Lost 2
- → Top Points Scorer: Carlik Jones 102 PTS (20.4 PPG)
- → Top Assist Provider: Carlik Jones 53 AST (10.6 APG)
- → Most Efficient Player: Carlik Jones 26.2 EPG
South Sudan came to compete in their first ever FIBA World Cup and compete they did, winning 3 games and booking a place in the 2024 Olympic Games after finishing top of the African nations. Their two defeats came in the first group phase, which led to classification games against co-hosts the Philippines and Angola. Star performer was G-League MVP, Carlik Jones, who averaged a double-double for the tournament.
Check out highlights from their victory over African rivals Angola, which sealed their place in the 2024 Paris Games. They're going to the O!
Angola v South Sudan - 5-min Game
Team Presentation Video
This Team Discovery Video created before the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 details plenty of facts and stats about South Sudan and their incredible rise to basketball prominence.
Team Presentation - South Sudan - FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023
World Cup Qualification
South Sudan went into their first-ever African Qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup on a high after reaching the quarter-finals of AfroBasket 2021 at the first attempt.
In the first World Cup qualification phase, they were drawn in Group B, alongside Tunisia, Cameroon and Rwanda. Here, they impressively claimed a 6-0 record and beat reigning FIBA AfroBasket champions, Tunisia, twice. It was sweet revenge against the team that dumped them out of AfroBasket 2021.
In the second and final round of qualifying, the South Sudan basketball team took their place in Group F, alongside Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, DR Congo and Cameroon. With only two teams guaranteed to qualify, they kept up the pressure and went 5-1, only losing a difficult away game against Senegal that had 11 lead changes. A Cinderella story throughout the qualifiers, The Bright Stars qualified with two games to spare and even claimed the best record in Africa!
Best World Cup Qualifying Plays
South Sudan was anchored in qualifying by six players who featured in at least 11 of the team’s 12 games.
The squad were ably led on the offensive end by Nuni Omot, who ended the campaign with the highest points per game of any South Sudan player. He poured in 181 points on 40.5% shooting in his 12 games.
On the defensive end, South Sudan relied on Deng Acuoth. Although he only scored 56 points in 263 minutes of action, Acuoth was invaluable as a defensive stopper, grabbing 57 defensive rebounds and blocking 13 shots.
South Sudan certainly brought some flair to the African Qualifiers. Check out the team’s Top 10 plays below and keep an eye out for the alley-oop from Padiet Wang that leads to a vicious dunk from Kur Kuath against Côte d'Ivoire.
Best Plays - South Sudan - FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers 2023
Current Star Players
South Sudan announced their extended FIBA World Cup 2023 roster in the lead up to their warm-up games. The headline name is Wenyen Gabriel, who was an unsung hero who helped turn the Los Angeles Lakers campaign around last season, backing up Anthony Davis with high-effort spark plug plays off the bench. Gabriel decided to play in the World Cup while being an unrestricted free agent, and has just signed a deal to play for the Boston Celtics.
Of the established core group, Nuni Omot was the one to watch heading into the tournament, having led South Sudan in scoring in the qualifiers. The talented forward did not feature at AfroBasket 2021, but he has firmly established himself as a leader of the side, playing in all 12 of their qualification games and 5 World Cup fixtures.
Padiet Wang, one of four players to feature in every qualification game and provided several highlight plays, provided solid back-up minutes to Carlik Jones at the PG position, alongside Sunday Dech off the bench.
Legends of the Team
Standing at 7ft 6in, legends of South Sudanese basketball (literally) don’t get bigger than the late and great, Manute Bol.
A defensive wall, Bol is one of the tallest NBA players in history. During his magnetic career, he used his height to devastating effect and became one of the best shot blockers in the history of the sport. To date, he remains the only player in NBA history to retire with more career blocked shots than points scored. One of the best rim-protecting centers of his era, he enjoyed an 11-season NBA career where he led the league in blocks twice and played in more than 600 NBA games. His son, Bol Bol, currently plays in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns and has represented the United States at junior level.
Another icon that was not able to represent their birth country of South Sudan on the international stage during his playing career is Luol Deng. A two-time NBA All-Star, Deng represented Great Britain during the 2012 London Games. Now, he is president of the Republic of South Sudan Basketball Federation and is also on its coaching staff. His post-game locker room speaches have gone viral, having helped forge a unique spirit amongst the South Sudan team that could take them further during the World Cup than most experts think possible for a debutant nation.
Historical World Cup Performance
The South Sudan basketball team will make their FIBA Basketball World Cup debut in 2023. They’ve been drawn in Group B, alongside Serbia, China and Puerto Rico. They’ll undoubtedly enter this group as underdogs, but they’ll certainly be looking to spring a surprise at the big show after qualifying so strongly and adding new talent that ply their trade in America.
Previous Successes and Tournament Wins
Basketball South Sudan made their AfroBasket debut in 2021. This was their debut in any major tournament and they certainly left their mark. After defeating Uganda and Cameroon (the latter via forfeit) in the preliminary round, they beat Kenya in the round of 16 before falling to the eventual champions, Tunisia, in the quarter-finals.
How to Watch South Sudan Men's Basketball
With Courtside 1891, worldwide fans can stream every game of FIBA international tournaments, as well as other competitions from around the world.
As FIBA’s premium streaming partner for the World Cup, Courtside 1891 provided access to every 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup game! Watch the competition's biggest games and best moments on-demand on our FIBA Basketball World Cup page.
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