Paris Olympics: Bright Stars only FIBA Africa men's team to qualify

South Sudan's Bright Stars will be the only African men's team at the Paris Olympic basketball tournament. 

The Royal Ivey-coached men will be making their debut, on first try, when the competition throws of on 28 July on Paris. 

Cameroon was touted as the other side likely to qualify but the Alfred Aboya-led side fell 72-59 to hosts Latvia at the ongoing FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to miss out on qualification. 

For Bright Stars, who started a week-long training camp on 5 July at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, this is remarkable achievement. 

To put it into perspective, South Sudan Basketball Federation was only established in 2011, became a member of FIBA in 2013, and played their first official game in 2017 (an 87-76 loss to Egypt).

Despite being the basketball world's youngest country, the Bright Stars have already made huge strides in their 12 years of existence by reaching the quarter-finals of FIBA AfroBasket 2021 and then qualifying for the FIBA World Cup 2023, where they earned qualification for Paris 2024 as the highest-placed African team at the tournament (finishing 17th).

The side has been drawn into Group C alongside 2023 World Cup runners-up Serbia, 16-time Olympic champions USA, and the winner of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) Puerto Rico concluding today. 

Paris 2024: Wanja tips young Malkia Strikers squad to change Kenya's narrative

South Sudan's Group Phase Games

vs Germany (27 July)

vs France (30 July)

vs Winner OQT Latvia (2 August)