Khaman Maluach has been named to the FIBA World Cup roster of South Sudan at the age of 16, making him the third-youngest player in the event’s history.
The 7-foot-2 Maluach is a member of the NBA Africa Academy in Senegal, which he joined as a high school freshman in 2021, two years after he started playing basketball seriously while living in Uganda.
Maluach, who is slated to graduate high school in the summer of 2025, has scholarship offers from Duke, UCLA and Georgetown. He also has the option of going straight to the NBA draft as a 2006-born international prospect.
“Khaman’s future is bright; everyone sees that,” South Sudan basketball federation president Luol Deng told ESPN. “He is going to be a great player and it’s exciting that people will get see him at the World Cup stage. This will be a great experience for him.”
