The Blue Devils — tipped to go all the way thanks to Maluach and locked-in No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg — were stunned by Houston to end their season.
Maluach only managed six points and didn’t add a single rebound to the box score, but is still being projected as a top-eight pick. His standing reach of 9 feet 8 inches is an inch more than San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama.
He only took up basketball in 2019 when a motorcycle taxi driver in Uganda saw the refugee, who had fled the war in his homeland, walking along a road and encouraged him to try his hand at the sport.
The giant attended a local camp organised by two-time All-Star Luol Deng, who hails from South Sudan and boasts a net worth of $200 million, and moved on to NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, playing for two pro clubs before getting a shot at Duke in 2024.
A former soccer star, Maluach is inspired by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s journey from Greece to the USA.
“I watched his movie,” Maluach said of the 2002 film Rise. “But just his story, his background coming from Greece and then coming to America.”
Maluach competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, representing his home country at the age of 17 to make him the youngest player at the tournament.South Sudan stunned LeBron James and gave Team USA quite the scare, pushing them to the absolute brink in an exhibition match in July before pool play began.James scored the game-wining bucket to give USA the 101-100 victory, but the Africans put themselves on the map with their performance.
It was an invaluable experience for the then 17-year-old and his team.South Sudan then won its first-ever Olympic game in their debut, upsetting Puerto Rico for a 90-79 victory.
A remarkable feat considering South Sudan only created its basketball federation 14 years ago in 2011.
Maluach will now look to take everything he has learned into the NBA.
His head coach, Jon Scheyer, has the utmost confidence in his young freshman and believes he will be up to the task.
“Khaman, he’s as good as I’ve seen as a freshman of playing physical and knowing how to use his body,” Scheyer said.
“Usually, that takes the longest for freshmen big guys. He naturally, he was coming in, in the summer and just hitting guys, ‘cause he likes contact. So, it starts there.“Obviously, he has to learn how to do that and go straight up and go vertical.
“He’s a student of the game, so he’s been able to grow as the season’s gone along with his defense, with his switching, with blitzing ball screens.”I don’t think his versatility gets talked about enough on that end. It’s because of him being so smart and such a great worker.”
All eyes will be on Flagg in Wednesday’s Draft, but Maluach is primed to make an impact in the frontcourt.
One final hurdle may be the visa and travel ban enforced United States on South Sudan, per USA TODAY.
“They’re trying to use leverage against these countries, and oftentimes it’s through visa issuance,” Philadelphia-based immigration attorney Adam Solow told the outlet. “This kid is caught up in the middle of that.”“Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States,” a State Department spokesperson told USA.
“In accordance with the April 5 decision made by Secretary Rubio, the Department took appropriate steps to revoke visas held by South Sudanese passport holders.
“South Sudanese passport holders who were notified of their visa revocation are not required to depart the United States before their Admit Until Date.
“Any future travel to the United States will require a new visa application.”
