South Sudan Men's National Basketball Team

Its official name is South Sudan Basketball Federation. It was established in May 2011, and became a member of FIBA in December 2013. They are nicknamed the Bright Stars.

South Sudan

FIBA ranking	33 2 (1 March 2024)
Joined FIBA	2013
FIBA zone	FIBA Africa
National federation	South Sudan Basketball Federation (SSBF)
Coach	Royal Ivey
Nickname(s)	Bright Stars
Olympic Games
Appearances	1
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	1
Afrobasket
Appearances	1
Home Away
First international
Unofficial Power Basketball Club 86–84 South Sudan  (Juba, South Sudan; 13 July 2011) Official  Egypt 87–76 South Sudan  (Cairo, Egypt; 12 March 2017)
Biggest win
Tanzania 60–115 South Sudan  (Nairobi, Kenya; 17 January 2020)
Biggest defeat
South Sudan 83–115 Serbia  (Quezon City, Philippines; 30 August 2023)

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

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

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

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.

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. 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.

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

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.

 

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

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L
2016	Did not enter
2020
2024	Qualified
Total	Best: N/A		0	0	0

FIBA World Cup

FIBA Basketball World Cup record		Qualification record
Year		Round	Position	GP	W	L	GP	W	L
2014		Did not enter					AfroBasket served as qualification
2019							Did not enter
/   /   2023		Classification round	17th	5	3	2	12	11	1
2027		To be determined					To be determined
Total		Classification round	17th	5	3	2	12	11	1

FIBA AfroBasket

AfroBasket record	Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	GP	W	L
2015	Did not enter					Did not enter
/   2017	Did not qualify					4	2	2
2021	Quarter-finals	7th	5	3	2	13	8	5
2025	To be determined					To be determined
Total	Best: Quarter-finals	7th	5	3	2	17	10	7

Current roster

Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

South Sudan men's national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 0 Junior Madut 26 – (1997-03-26)26 March 1997 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Tasmania JackJumpers   SF 1 Nuni Omot 28 – (1994-10-03)3 October 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Taichung Suns   G 2 Carlik Jones 25 – (1997-12-23)23 December 1997 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Chicago Bulls   C 6 Khaman Maluach 16 – (2006-09-14)14 September 2006 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) AS Douanes   SF 8 Kuany Kuany (C) 29 – (1994-07-08)8 July 1994 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Keilor Thunder   PG 11 Marial Shayok 28 – (1995-07-26)26 July 1995 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Maine Celtics   C 12 Deng Acuoth 26 – (1996-10-02)2 October 1996 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Knox Raiders   PF 13 Majok Deng 30 – (1993-03-01)1 March 1993 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Tasmania JackJumpers   SG 14 Peter Jok 29 – (1994-03-30)30 March 1994 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Cholet Basket   C 21 Koch Bar 26 – (1996-09-15)15 September 1996 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Horsens IC   PF 32 Wenyen Gabriel 26 – (1997-03-26)26 March 1997 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Los Angeles Lakers   G 44 Sunday Dech 29 – (1994-01-01)1 January 1994 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Adelaide 36ers	Head coach   Royal Ivey Assistant coach(es)   Luol Deng   Fortune Solomon Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 25 August 2023

Head coaches

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

Coach	Tenure	Tournaments
Deng Lek & Bil Duany	2011–2016	–
Jerry Steele	2016–2017	–
Scott Catt	2017–?	–
Ajou Deng	2020	–
Luol Deng	2020–2021; 2023	–
Royal Ivey	2021–present	FIBA AfroBasket 2021 (quarter-finals) 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup (classification round)