The South Sudan men’s basketball team are playing at their first ever Olympics, check out all the details of the team along with the schedule, roster, coaches and ranking
South Sudan displayed a strong performance in their international debut at the 2023 World Cup and qualified for the Olympics.
South Sudan basketball team ranking, roster players lineup, height, coach and members at the Paris 2024 Olympics
Over the past few years, the South Sudan Basketball Federation has achieved significant progress.
In particular under the leadership of former NBA star Luol Deng, who is the president and the team’s assistant coach. Interestingly, the country gained independence as a nation just back in 2011.
South Sudan basketball coaches
Houston Rockets assistant coach Royal Ivey, who played 11 seasons in the NBA is the head coach for South Sudan. Meanwhile, as stated before, Luol Deng, who played 16 seasons in the NBA serves as assistant coach. Alongside Deng, Fortune Solomon also serves as an assistant coach.
South Sudan basketball team roster at Paris 2024 Olympics
Royal Ivey will the lead the following players, which includes two players with NBA experience, Carlik Jones and Wenyen Gabriel:
| No. | Position | Name | Height | Team | League |
| 0 | SG | Junior Madut | 6-6 | Tasmania JackJumpers | NBL (Australia) |
| 1 | SF | Nuni Omot | 6-9 | Taichung Suns | T1 League (China) |
| 2 | SG | Carlik Jones | 6-0 | KK Partizan | EuroLeague |
| 6 | C | Khaman Maluach | 7-1 | AS Douanes | BAL (Africa) |
| 8 | SF | Kuany Kuany | 6-7 | Keilor Thunder | VIC (Australia) |
| 11 | PG | Marial Shayok | 6-6 | Maine Celtics | NBA G League |
| 12 | C | Deng Acuoth | 6-10 | Knox Raiders | NBL (Australia) |
| 13 | PR | Majok Deng | 6-9 | Tasmania JackJumpers | NBL (Australia) |
| 14 | SG | Peter Jok | 6-6 | Cholet Baskets | Pro A (France) |
| 21 | C | Koch Bar | 6-11 | Horsens IC | Basketligaen (Denmark) |
| 32 | PF | Wenyen Gabriel | 6-9 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | EuroLeague |
| 44 | C | Sunday Dech | 6-5 | Adelaide 36ers | NBL (Australia) |
Phoenix forward Bol Bol, who is the son of Sudan basketball legend Manute Bol originally featured on the 25-man training roster. However, he will not play in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Notably, Bol Bol averaged at 5.2 points per game for the Suns throughout last season.
They are nicknamed the Bright Stars and have a FIBA ranking of 33.
South Sudan road to Olympics
Royal Ivey led South Sudan to the 2024 Summer Olympics with an impressive outing in the 2023 World Cup. South Sudan finished 3-2, which helped them finish in 17th place, securing the automatic berth for Africa in the Olympics. During the pool play stage, South Sudan lost 101-96 to Puerto Rico in overtime, before beating China 89-69 and losing out to Serbia 115-83. Later in the classification round, South Sudan beat the Philippines by 87-68 and then beat Angola by 101-78.
South Sudan Olympic basketball schedule
Royal Ivey and his men are in Pool C in the men’s basketball tournament alongside teams like Serbia, Puerto Rico, and USA. Given below is the team’s group schedule and fixtures:
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| Sunday, July 28 | Puerto Rico | 11 a.m. ET |
| Wednesday, July 31 | United States | 9 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, August 3 | Serbia | 9 p.m. ET |
FIBA Africa teams at the Olympics
While the South Sudan national basketball team will play in an Olympics event for the first time, given below are the FIBA Africa teams at previous Olympics so far:
| Year | Country | Record | Place |
| 1936 | Egypt | 1-3 | 15th |
| 1948 | Egypt | 2-5 | 19th |
| 1952 | Egypt | 3-3 | 9th |
| 1968 | Sengal | 1-8 | 15th |
| 1968 | Morocco | 0-9 | 16th |
| 1972 | Senegal | 1-8 | 12th |
| 1972 | Egypt | 0-9 | 16th |
| 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 |
| 1996 | 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 | TBD | TBD |