The South Sudan national basketball team was established in May 2011 and they became a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in December 2013.
The Bright Stars made their first and only AfroBasket appearance in 2021 and they have also qualified for the 2023 FIBA World Cup hosted by The Philippines, Japan and Indonesia in August.
South Sudan played its first unofficial match in Juba against Ugandan champions Power on July 13, 2011, but they lost by 86-84.
Ahead of the 2017 AfroBasket competition, the country’s basketball federation announced the experienced Jerry Steele as their first coach in January 2016 and the team had its first international game against Egypt which ended in a 87-76 loss on March 12, 2017.
Their first-ever victory came two days later as they defeated group rivals Rwanda 68-66.
In November 2020, former NBA All-star Luol Deng became the president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation (SBBF) while he also had a brief stint as the coach of the side.
A year later, South Sudan made its debut at a major tournament at the 2021 AfroBasket and reached the quarter-finals where they lost to Tunisia – the eventual champions.
The Bright Stars recently went on an unbeaten run to qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup and they also defeated African Champions Tunisia twice.
Interestingly, Brooklyn Nets’ assistant coach, Royal Ivey will lead South Sudan to the global basketball showpiece having been with the team since 2021.
