South Sudan center Khaman Maluach grateful for Olympic experience at 17

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQN, France – Duke University’s incoming freshmen are preparing for move-in day Aug. 17. As for 17-year-old Khaman Maluach, he is busy as the youngest competitor in men’s basketball in the 2024 Paris Olympics while playing for a historic South Sudan team.

Maluach was born on Sept. 14, 2006, in Rumbek, Sudan, now South Sudan. The 7-foot-2 center is the youngest basketball player — the next oldest player is nearly three years player is Bilal Coulibaly of France, born July 26, 2004, of the Washington Wizards. Chinese skateboarder Zheng Haohao is the Games’ youngest competitor at 11 years and 11 months.

“To me, this whole experience is sometimes feels like I’m living in a dream at 17 years old. Big dreams. And I’m just a small-town kid chasing big dreams in the big city,” Maluach told Andscape after South Sudan upset Puerto Rico 90-79 on Sunday.

South Sudan is the youngest nation in the Olympics. It gained independence from Sudan following a referendum in 2011. The split came after years of war between Sudan and what now is South Sudan over a shared border and natural resources. With the guidance and financial aid of former NBA star Luol Deng, South Sudan’s men’s basketball qualified for the Olympics for the first time this year despite not having one indoor basketball court.

Like many of his teammates, Maluach is a refugee of South Sudan. His family fled the conflict-ridden country when he was a child and moved to Uganda. The South Sudan men’s basketball team’s first appearance in the Olympic Games was tarnished before it started when the wrong national anthem was played before its opener against Puerto Rico. The East African nation, however, recovered to make history, winning in front of nearly 27,000 fans at Pierre Mauroy Stadium. Maluach’s mother and other family members from Kampala, Uganda, attended the game.

“To me, it’s a big thing for my family. Being able to come see me, to come watch me play,” Maluach said. “I’ve only dreamt about them leaving the country and seeing me on a big stage like this.

“Right now, we’re going to celebrate our win, be grateful for our first Olympic game and our first win. So, I’m going to celebrate until 12 midnight. We put this game aside and get ready for the next game.”

The next game for Maluach and South Sudan is against the United States, the defending gold medalists from the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021, on Wednesday.

Team USA has four consecutive gold medals at the Olympics dating back to 2008. South Sudan proved that it wasn’t just a pushover program as it narrowly lost 101-100 in an exhibition game against Team USA in London on July 21. South Sudan was up by as many as 16 points before missing a buzzer-beater for the win.

While Maluach is projected to be an NBA player, the chance to play the Americans twice is a great learning experience for him.

“It’s really different because I’ve been seeing all these people, watching them on TV and the NBA playoffs,” Maluach said. “I stayed up late nights in Africa to watch. I watched LeBron [James]. The NBA Bubble [in Orlando in 2020]. I watched Joel Embiid. Me being on the same floor with those guys was a different feeling. I was like, ‘Dreams really come true.’ Me playing against Joel Embiid and LeBron James, I always looked up to those guys.”

Maluach scored two points on 1-of-2 shooting and grabbed two rebounds in six minutes of action against Puerto Rico before being benched in the second half. South Sudan coach Royal Ivey, a Houston Rockets assistant coach, is being patient with the teenager who he believes is the future face of South Sudan basketball.

“He is our second big. Our backup big,” Ivey said of Maluach after the game against Puerto Rico. “I wanted to inject him early to see what he gave us, see if he could help us with rebounding. Just think about it, he’s 17 years old. He’s learning against grown men. Some days he has good days. Some days, not so good. He is still in the rotation. I believe in him.

“He’s a talent. In five years, this is going to be his team. I got to throw him out there and put him in the fiery moments. When he makes mistakes, I have to pull him as a coach. He’s OK and he will be fine the next game.”

“My role obviously changes game to game depending on the size and the talent. Whatever it takes for my team to win, I’ll do that. It doesn’t matter,” Maluach said.

The NBA Academy Africa successfully recruited Maluach at age 14 in 2021 after one of its scouts watched him during an outdoor workout in Uganda. The academy is an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, that opened in November 2018 for the top male and female prospects from Africa. Maluach, the 2023 Basketball Without Borders Africa MVP, also played three seasons in the NBA-sanctioned Basketball Africa League.

Maluach was on South Sudan’s roster when it qualified for the Olympics during the 2023 World Cup after finishing as the top African team. He also represented South Sudan in April at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon, a showcase game of top American high school players versus top international teens.

“The entire African continent is excited and proud to follow South Sudan’s journey at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” BAL president Amadou Fall told Andscape. “It is great to see Khaman again, after being the youngest player at the FIBA World Cup last summer. He is the perfect example of what’s possible now in Africa with the pathway we’ve established, from grassroots to elite.

“He was a young raw talent at age 14, through the NBA Academy Africa and the BAL Elevate program, now on the biggest global sporting stage with his South Sudan National team. We also commend the remarkable work our NBA legend and BAL ambassador Luol Deng has done in building this world-class basketball program.”

With a 7-4.5 wingspan and 9-8 standing reach, Duke is adding Maluach to a top-ranked 2024 class that includes 2024 No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg. Maluach plans to return to Durham, North Carolina, immediately after the Olympics for school and basketball, but until then he will continue to enjoy this hoop experience as a teenager with lots of room to grow.

“This whole experience to me, it’s been like a movie,” Maluach said. “It was the same with the World Cup, because it’s been a lot of stuff in just a small amount of years. Two years of experiencing a lot, and to me, stuff goes by quicker every time I think about it. I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m in this place and it’s a big experience.’

“I went outside there [at the arena] and I saw the crowd and I got chills. I was kind of nervous. I was like, ‘Wow, this is what it’s all about.’ It’s been a great experience so far.”

“It’s an incredible experience for a 17-year-old. He’s the heart and soul of this team. The court jester. He’s one of the funniest guys on the team. He’s so lighthearted, so innocent. He doesn’t even know what is happening half of the time. And once he gets that fire in his heart, he is going to be a really good player,” Ivey said.