On Saturday evening, four banner college basketball programs will battle it out for supremacy in the sport — with Duke, Houston, Auburn and Florida preparing for the Final Four.
But a fascinating subplot in the tale of tournament goliaths is the emergence of two players, one from Nigeria and another from South Sudan, who are now reunited at the NCAA tournament in San Antonio.
“We don’t have many programs…we actually don’t have any other programs like NBA Academy Africa,” said Khaman Maluach, Duke’s 7-2 center and a projected NBA lottery pick, who attended the elite academy from age 14 until he left for college.
“It only takes like 24 players, or 22 players [at a time],” he said. “But it’s like millions of kids out there looking for that opportunity.”
One of those other kids — Maluach’s good friend and fellow center, Rueben Chinyelu — is a foundational figure for a Gators squad that just made its first Final Four in more than a decade and first since longtime coach Billy Donovan left the program.
Chinyelu described his friendship with Maluach and the other attendees of the close-knit academy as “a family.”
“The brotherhood out here, it’s pretty strong,” Chinyelu said. “You have so many guys from different parts of Africa just leaving their home. You’re coming to a new home country that you haven’t been to. They don’t speak the language, they haven’t even tasted that food.”
Chinyelu lost his father as a young child and says he’s been supported by his family members (many of whom will be trying to watch the game in Nigeria) and his acquired basketball family who stick with him to this day.
The two talented big men spent nights at the camp — sometimes until 3 or 4 a.m.— watching March Madness games and dreaming of the possibilities, but still not realistically thinking they could ever compete, much less face one another.
“It never really crossed my mind that one day I’ll be playing for Duke,” Maluach said when he spoke to NBC News from the Blue Devils Alamodome locker room.
“I didn’t know I was going to go to college,” much less “be able to play in a Final Four.”
Now, several years later and thousands of miles traveled, the two could potentially meet with a title in the balance. Duke and Houston will vie for one spot in the championship game, and Florida and Auburn the other.
The result is anyone’s guess — but a meeting of these two former classmates would be one for the ages.
“Rueben has always been like an older brother to me,” said Maluach. “He has always helped me out.”
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