FILE - South Sudan forward Nuni Omot looks to shoot against Puerto Rico during a Basketball World Cup group B match in Quezon City, Philippines,, Aug. 26, 2023. “A lot of guys are refugees. And we grew up, we moved, so we’ve had the luxuries of having indoor courts and such things,” Omot said about the team. “To go back home and start kind of at the beginning, obviously, we all had a vision of what it could be. It’s just a testament that’s going to show in the future.” (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
FILE - Former NBA star Manute Bol speaks at a rally March 23, 2006, at the Independence Visitor Center as part of the Philadelphia stop of the Sudan Freedom Walk, a 300-mile march from New York to Washington. Born in Wau, Sudan, Luol Deng was 3 years old when his father Aldo moved with his family to Egypt in the throes of the second Sudanese civil war. It was in Egypt that Deng’s family met Bol, who introduced basketball to Deng and his brothers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - South Sudan players Nuni Omot (1) and Kuany Ngor Kuany (8) celebrate the team's win against China during a Basketball World Cup group B match at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines, Aug. 28, 2023. Luol Deng used millions of his own dollars to fund the team in the first two years. The team's leaders tapped into a stable of players with ties to the country who were playing around the world, including former NBA G-League MVP Carlik Jones and others with NBA experience like Wenyen Gabriel, Omot and Blair alum Marial Shayok. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
FILE - Washington Bullets center Manute Bol towers over opponents and teammates during the team's NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in New York, Oct. 17, 1985. Just 13 years after South Sudan emerged from civil war to become an independent nation in 2011, it will mark a milestone next month when the world’s youngest nation makes its Olympic basketball debut. Bol introduced Luol Deng to basketball. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)
FILE - Former NBA basketball player Manute Bol poses for a photograph at the Sunrise Sudan headquarters in Lenexa, Kan., June 9, 2008. Just 13 years after South Sudan emerged from civil war to become an independent nation in 2011, it will mark a milestone next month when the world’s youngest nation makes its Olympic basketball debut. Bol died in 2010. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)
FILE - Philadelphia 76ers' Royal Ivey defends during the second half of teh team's NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Feb. 20, 2013, in Minneapolis. Ivey is now the coach of the South Sudan men's basketball team, as well as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
FILE - Wenyen Gabriel (32) of South Sudan competes for a rebound against Zhou Qi (15) and Kyle Anderson (1) of China in the first quarter during the FIBA Basketball World Cup Group B game Aug. 28, 2023, in Manila, Philippines. Luol Deng and South Sudan's coaches tapped into a stable of players with ties to the country who were playing around the world, including former NBA G-League MVP Carlik Jones and others with NBA experience like Gabriel, Nuni Omot and Blair alum Marial Shayok. (Yong Teck Lim/Pool via AP, File)
FILE - Luol Deng, right, accepts the 18th annual National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award before the 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Game between the Phoenix Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies, Jan. 16, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. It’s been only 13 years since South Sudan emerged from its second civil war to become an independent nation. For former NBA star Deng that journey has an almost parallel connection to his own introduction to basketball through fellow Sudanese countryman and former NBA player Manute Bol. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill, File)
FILE - South Sudan forward Wenyen Gabriel (32) shoots from between Puerto Rico guard Tremont Waters (51) and guard Stephen Thompson Jr. (11) during a Basketball World Cup group B match at the Araneta Coliseum, Manila, Philippines, Aug. 26, 2023. It’s been only 13 years since South Sudan emerged from its second civil war to become an independent nation. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)