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South Sudan men's national basketball team

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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 on November 24th 2013.[2][3] They are nicknamed the Bright Stars.

South Sudan
FIBA ranking25 Decrease 1 (3 March 2026)[1]
Joined FIBA2013
FIBA zoneFIBA Africa
National federationSSBF
CoachLuol Deng
NicknameBright Stars
Olympic Games
Appearances1
FIBA World Cup
Appearances1
Afrobasket
Appearances2
First international
Unofficial
Power 86–84 South Sudan 
(Juba, South Sudan; 13 July 2011)
Official
 Egypt 87–76 South Sudan 
(Cairo, Egypt; 12 March 2017)
Biggest win
 Libya 52–115 South Sudan 
(Moçâmedes, Angola; 14 August 2025)
Biggest defeat
 South Sudan 83–115 Serbia 
(Quezon City, Philippines; 30 August 2023)

South Sudan has already played at two AfroBasket tournaments (2021, 2025), one FIBA World Cup (2023) and one Olympic Games (2024).

History

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2011–19

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The team played its first unofficial match in Juba against Ugandan club champions Power on 13 July 2011. Power won the match 86–84.[4]

In 2016, the team played in an exhibition tournament named Indigenous Basketball Competition in Vancouver, Canada.[5]

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.[6]

In the 2017 AfroBasket qualifiers, the team was placed in Zone 5 Group A, with Egypt, Kenya, and Rwanda. South Sudan played its first official international game on 12 March 2017, against Egypt in Cairo.[7] They would lose to Egypt by 11 points (87–76) in the first match on 12 March. Two days later the national team got its 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.[8]

2020–present

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In November 2020, former NBA All-Star Luol Deng became the president of the SSBF.[9] He also briefly coached the team. In September 2021, Royal Ivey, assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, became the head coach of the team.[10] 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.

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.[11]

On August 28, South Sudan earned its first World Cup victory with a dominant win over China in Quezon City, Philippines.[12] 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 to qualify for their first-ever Olympics.[13]

In exhibition play leading up to the 2024 Paris 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.[14] Marial Shayok scored 25 points for South Sudan.[15]

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.[16] Carlik Jones led the way with 19 points.[17] The Bright Stars lost their two following games to the United States[18] and Serbia, and thus did not advance past the preliminary stage.[19]

Competitive record

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Olympic Games

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Summer Olympic Games record
Year Round Position GP W L
Brazil 2016Did not enter
Japan 2020
France 2024Preliminary round9th312
TotalBest: 9th312

Record against other teams at the Olympics

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Country W–L
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico1–0
United States United States0–1
Serbia Serbia0–1
Total record1–2
Overall historic score261–278

Last updated: 1 August 2024

FIBA World Cup

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FIBA Basketball World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position GP W L GP W L
Spain 2014Did not enterAfroBasket served as qualification
China 2019 Did not enter
Philippines Japan Indonesia 2023 Classification round 17th 5 3 2 12 11 1
Qatar 2027To be determined In progress
France 2031To be determined
TotalClassification round53212111

FIBA AfroBasket

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AfroBasket record Qualification record
Year Round Position GP W L GP W L
Tunisia 2015 Did not enter Did not enter
Tunisia Senegal 2017Did not qualify 422
Rwanda 2021Quarter-finals7th532 1385
Angola 2025Qualification to quarterfinals 10th 4 1 3 642
Total Quarter-finals 9 4 5 23 14 9

Team

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Current roster

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Roster as of the AfroBasket 2025.[20]

South Sudan men's national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
C 0 Jo Lual-Acuil 31 – (1994-04-26)26 April 1994 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Perth Wildcats Australia
SF 1 Nuni Omot (C) 30 – (1994-10-03)3 October 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) APR BBC Rwanda
PF 3 Emmanuel Akot 26 – (1999-03-17)17 March 1999 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Winnipeg Sea Bears Canada
PG 4 Mareng Gatkuoth 25 – (1999-09-10)10 September 1999 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Pazi BBC Tanzania
SF 7 Deng Deng 33 – (1992-01-05)5 January 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Al Ittihad Egypt
SG 8 Junior Madut 28 – (1997-03-26)26 March 1997 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Manchester Basketball England
PG 10 Kendale McCullum 29 – (1996-05-31)31 May 1996 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Promitheas Patras B.C. Greece
SG 11 Both Gach 26 – (1999-02-04)4 February 1999 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) JL Bourg France
PF 13 Majok Deng 32 – (1993-03-01)1 March 1993 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Tasmania JackJumpers Australia
SG 14 Peter Jok 31 – (1994-03-30)30 March 1994 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Cibona Croatia
PF 23 Kur Kuath 27 – (1998-08-12)12 August 1998 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) CB Gran Canaria Spain
PF 32 Wenyen Gabriel 28 – (1997-03-26)26 March 1997 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Bayern Munich Germany
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 12 August 2025

Head coaches

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

Coach Tenure Major tournaments
South Sudan Deng Lek & Bil Duany2011–2016 –
United States Jerry Steele2016–2017 –
United States Scott Catt2017–2020[21][22] –
South Sudan Ajou Deng2020[23] –
United Kingdom Luol Deng2020–2021; 2023[24] –
United States Royal Ivey2021–present 2021 AfroBasket
2023 World Cup
2024 Summer Olympics
2025 AfroBasket

References

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  1. ↑ "FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 3 March 2026. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "Basketball: South Sudan is FIBA's 54th African member - Uncategorized - News - StarAfrica.com". News - StarAfrica.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "ABOUT". South Sudan Basketball Federation. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Power the history boys". New Vision Online. 15 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "South Sudan looking to promote the country through basketball". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "Steele put in charge of South Sudan's men's national team – FIBA.basketball".
  7. ↑ "Egypt off to flying start with win over South Sudan in FIBA AfroBasket 2017 Group F Qualifier opener". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "South Sudan Basketball Coaches – TeamSouthSudan". teamsouthsudan.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "NBA star Deng elected President of South Sudan Basketball Federation". insidethegames.biz. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "South Sudan Coach Royal Ivey: "The Talent Runs Deep in Africa"". Boardroom. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "History made as South Sudan outlast Senegal to qualify for the 2023 World Cup". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  12. ↑ Ninrew, Chany (28 August 2023). "South Sudan sink China in FIBA World Cup but rough road ahead". Eye Radio. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "'So surreal': South Sudan beat Angola to qualify for Paris 2024". Reuters. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  14. ↑ Joseph, Samuel (21 July 2024). "Team USA survives scare in Olympic warmup, scraping past South Sudan 101-100". CNN. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  15. ↑ "Maccabi adds South Sudan star Marial Shayok," Eurohoops, November 13, 2024,
  16. ↑ "Unforgettable first: South Sudan overcomes Puerto Rico with team effort". www.fiba.basketball. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "South Sudan stuns Puerto Rico for first-ever Olympic hoops win". ESPN. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  18. ↑ "Adebayo-led bench helps U.S. topple South Sudan". ESPN.com. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  19. ↑ "Bogdanovic, Jokic hold off South Sudan, pull Greece to QFs". www.fiba.basketball. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Team roster: South Sudan" (PDF). fiba.basketball. 12 August 2025. p. 14.
  21. ↑ "interview : Scott Catt, the new head coach for the South Sudan National Basketball Team". 21 July 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "South Sudan Basketball Coaches – TeamSouthSudan". teamsouthsudan.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  23. ↑ "South Sudan coach Deng: We want to make things right". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "Luol Deng combines president role with head coaching duties at South Sudan". Eurohoops. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
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