In a 2012-essay for CNN, current Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri argued that “Africans will be basketball stars of tomorrow”, mentioning that “some tribes in Sudan and Senegal have an average height of 6-foot-6, and that “people in Nigeria, Mali and Congo tend to be very big and physical”. No African country has reached the Top-8 of a FIBA World Cup since Egypt reached 5th place of the 1950 World Championship, and no African country has ever accomplished a Top-8 finish at an Olympic men’s basketball tournament, but the recent emergence of Cameroonians Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam as NBA stars shows that the development of the continent is trending in the right direction. After watching dozens of hours of game footage of African prospects in recent weeks, I can confidently voice the opinion that the next generation of African basketball will be, as predicted by Masai Ujiri, extremely successful. I want to highlight three nations, whose prospects look particularly promising and give a short, superficial introduction to the prospects that make them promising.
Mali
Mali is not the first African nation anyone would think of when it comes to Basketball. The countries’ biggest basketballing success is a 3rd-place finish at the African Championship in 1972. It has also produced two NBA players in Soumaila Samake, who played 47 NBA games for the Nets and Lakers, and Cheik Diallo of the Phoenix Suns. On a not so bright note, Mali hasn’t achieved a Top-6 finish at an African Championship since 1999, and it has also never participated in the FIBA World Cup. Looking at their recent results at FIBA youth events, however, this seems bound to change. They won multiple medals at African youth events in the past two decades and the gold medal at the U-16 African Championship 2017, but it was the U-17 World Cup 2018, where they showed that they could also compete internationally. They “only” finished 12th out of 16 nations, but gave Serbia, Australia, the Dominican Republic and Argentina a great fight. One month later, the same team participated in the African U-18 Championship and showed just how good they are. They swept the tournament, going 8–0, winning their games by an average of over 44 points, including a ridiculous 141–49 win over Guinea, and earned Mali’s first gold medal at the event.
When they then showed up at the U-19 World Cup 2019 in Greece, it was obvious that they had to be taken seriously. After winning two of their three group stage games, they beat New Zealand in the round-of-16, becoming the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals of the U-19 World Cup. They weren’t done making history. In the quarters, they beat Puerto Rico, and then they upset an admittedly undermanned French team to reach the final against the USA. There, they fought hard and kept the game close for a long time, but were eventually overrun by the US in the eight minutes directly after halftime. Still, this young Mali side had made history, and they were rewarded for it. Two of their players earned a spot in the All-Tournament, four would be part of D1-NCAA programs months later.
Point Guard Siriman Kanoute (’01), who had already been MVP of the aforementioned U-16 and U-18 African Championship, made the All-Tournament team. The playstyle of the speedy guard is just as fun as it is irrational, and while his height of 5’9" will probably prevent him from ever making the NBA, he would make a great option for a D1-team and should be part of Mali’s national team for a long time. Oumar Ballo (’02) also made the All-Tournament team. The 6’10", 260lbs center, who models his game after Shaq, has been on the radar for a long time and will make his debut for Gonzaga next season, after redshirting this season. While it’s unclear how his skill set fits into the modern NBA — and it might well fit fine — he should be a big upgrade on the centers currently on roster. At the 2017 AfroBasket, the last major tournament Mali’s men’s national team competed in, their main bigs were Ibrahim Djambo (spent the 19–20 season in the third tier of French basketball) and Boubacar Sidibe (spent 2016–2019 in the Spanish third tier). In addition to Ballo, the Drame twins, Fousseyni and Hassan (’00), two lanky, athletic 6’7" forwards, also earned spots in the NCAA, playing decent freshman seasons for St. Peter’s University in 2019–20. The fifth starter Karim Coulibaly (’00), a big with a strong post game, earned a place on the roster (and at the end of the rotation; 9.3 MPG) of the University of Pittsburgh. Other players to keep an eye on are Oregon’s N’Faly Dante (’01/there’s other prospects in the NCAA; 15 Malian players received D1-minutes last season) and Bassala Bagayoko (’06). Bagayoko has put up Wilt-esque stats in the EYBL (European Youth Basketball League: 27.1 PPG, 19.4 RPG, 4 APG, 5.3 SPG and 3.8 BPG) and at the Minicopa Endesa (former MVP’s include Ricky Rubio, Luka Doncic and Usman Garuba) 2019 (16 PPG and 15.8 RPG in 24 MPG). That’s at least partly down to having unusual physical tools for his age, but he’s still worth monitoring.
The upcoming generation of Malian basketball players has proven that they’re talented and play well together. I’m not saying they’ll turn into contenders at the World Cup all of a sudden — there’s a chance that none of the members of this historic silver-medal-winning team sticks in the NBA — but they’re definitely talented enough to compete for AfroBasket Championships and could secure Mali’s first qualification for a FIBA World Cup. They were a lot of fun to watch at last years’ U-19 World Cup and I hope they’ll continue bringing enjoyment to the world of international basketball in the future.
Senegal
Having qualified for the last two World Cups, five in total, participated in three Olympic basketball tournaments and won five African championships, even though the last title dates back to 1997, Senegal has to be considered one of the best basketballing nations of the continent. They’ve also produced the second-most NBA players (12) of any African country, only trailing Nigeria (21). Looking at the wide array of Senegalese teenagers already making an impact on FIBA youth basketball, the number of Senegalese NBA players is likely to increase in the coming years. While a lot of young players from Mali have found a place in the NCAA, a lot of talented Senegalese teenagers are playing in Spain.
Ibou Badji (’02) of FC Barcelona headlines that group of players. The center has some of the craziest physical tools you’ll ever see from a 17-year old. Not only does he measure 7’1", he’s also strong, possesses a 7’8" wingspan and a reported standing reach of 9’10" (Gobert 9’7"). In short, you don’t want to challenge him at the rim. His skills, on the other hand, couldn’t be any rawer and need a lot of polishing. He’s currently 4th in Ignacio Rissotto’s ranking of international players eligible for the 2021 Draft. Another prospect is Pape Ablaye Sow (’03) of Baskonia, a lanky, very athletic 6’8" forward with a turnover-problem. He already has the size, length and mobility to defend both forward positions and shows some flashes of shooting (19–58 (32.8%) from three this season in the Spanish 4th tier (Liga EBA)) and, to a lesser degree, passing (only 1 AST to 3.5 TOV, however), but he’ll need to improve his skills a lot to make the NBA. Furthermore, Khalifa Diop (’02) of Gran Canaria, a defensively versatile big with good passing, ranks 8th on the aforementioned of 2021-Draft-eligible international players. Another young senegalese big, Amar Sylla (’01), left Spain before the season to play for Telenet BC Ooostende in Belgium. He’s seen as a potential late secound round pick in the 2020 Draft.
Every country has typical surnames. In Senegal, that surname seems to be Ndiaye/N’Diaye. 3 of the countries’ 12 NBA players bear that name, every single one of their Olympics and World Cup teams included at least one person with the name, one of their recent head coaches has that name, and so do the countries’ three most well-known prospects born in 2004 or 2005: Ousmane N’Diaye (’04) of Bonn/Rhöndorf (Germany), Eli John Ndiaye (’04) and Abdou Aziz Ndiaye (’04), both of Real Madrid (Spain). Ousmane is especially interesting because he’s a very fluid athlete for a 6’9" forward, has some handles and shoots (sometimes more, sometimes less successfully) from anywhere on the court. The one problem Senegal could have is finding an adequate initiator to create for all of these talented players. 6’8" Pape Sow is actually the smallest of the prospects I mentioned, and he has a long way to go before he can create at a high level.
D.R. Congo
The bright future of the Democratic Republic of Congo is more theoretical than that of Mali or Senegal, because none of the four players that I’m going to talk about has actually suited up for D.R. Congo at any level. This could be the case because D.R. Congo has only qualified one time each for the U-18 and U-16 African Championships and not at all in the past 7 years, so there weren’t any opportunities for these players to represent their country. Even though the nation has produced five NBA players in Dikembe Mutombo, D.J. Mbenga, Christian Eyenga, Bismack Biyombo and Emmanuel Mudiay, it has only qualified for six African championships, most recently finishing 6th at the 2017 AfroBasket in Senegal and Tunisia. The upcoming generation, however, could turn the countries’ fortunes around.
The headline-prospect of D.R. Congo’s next generation is forward Jonathan Kuminga (’02), who is the #1-ranked prospect on ESPN’s Top-60 Recruits lists for the high school class of 2021. He is likely to re-classify, however, and could play D-1 basketball as soon as next season. As a large forward with a developed body and initiator upside, he could raise D.R. Congo’s floor as soon as he puts on the countries’ jersey for the first time. Ideally, he would be joined by two very talented bigs in Oscar Tshiebwe (’99) and Yannick Nzosa (’03). Tshiebwe excelled in his freshman year at West Virginia and could hear his name called in the first round of the 2020 Draft, if he doesn’t decide to return to school. Nzosa is further away from the draft, but he currently ranks 2nd on Ignacio Rissotto’s ranking of 2022-Draft-eligible international players. Close to 7ft tall, he has great agility, an important skill to have for bigs in the modern game, and defensive upside. His skills are very raw, but he also has plenty of time to improve.
Another name to keep an eye on is Kany Tchanda (’05), who, despite being only 14, already played 15 minutes for Gran Canaria at the 2019 ANGT in Valencia, and also averaged 26 points and 16.8 rebounds per game at the Minicopa Endesa 2019. The fate of D.R. Congo’s national team seems to be dependent on whether their best players suit up for them in the future. Neither Mudiay nor Biyombo has represented them in any game registered in RealGM’s database. I assume that once the number of Congolese players in the NBA rises, the probability that they all suit up for their national team rises as well. If that ever happens, this team could be very fun to watch and more successful than any of Congo’s previous generations.
