Eight African-born players helping Central Districts Lions go from struggler to finals contender
A basketball team with eight African-born players is the Premier League’s surprise packet this season — attracting attention from the NBL and US colleges.
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They are from Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan, have come to Adelaide’s northern suburbs in search of a better life, and are chasing their dreams on basketball courts.
Now, the African-born “brotherhood” of Lwal Diing, Jimma Dau, Chol Luk, Anyang Garang, Isaac Atuer, Dut Bol, Angok Anyang and Magok Manyang are steering Central Districts out of the Premier League’s doldrums and into contention for its first finals series in five years.
All aged under 22 and originally soccer players, their height and athleticism drew them to basketball a handful of years ago, first with African youth social team Adelaide Warriors, before coming together with Central’s top side this season.
Not only has the group helped the Lions sit two wins outside the playoff placings with six minor rounds remaining, they have attracted interest from NBL clubs and US colleges.
Dau has trialled for new team South East Melbourne Phoenix in China over the past week, Diing has trained with Melbourne United and Garang is set to join Oklahoma University.
“We knew how special it was going to be coming into the season,” says Kenyan-born Atuer, 19.
“This is the first time this has ever happened, this amount of African players being in one team, so we wanted to make a statement and put our names out there.”
Most of the group have been in Australia for about a decade, some have come through refugee camps and details of their time in their home countries is scant.
Their hoops journeys mostly began by accident, according to Diing, after they literally outgrew soccer — Garang is the tallest of the athletic group at 205cm.
They emerged under the tutelage of US-born ex-NBL star Rashad Tucker, who has mentored dozens of African youngsters in Adelaide and become an assistant coach at Forestville, and former Premier League player turned head of the Warriors Aciek Mayen.
Courts quickly became places they could express their individualities without judgment.
“Basketball is another thing where you can be yourself — it doesn’t matter if you’re black, white or whatever colour,” Kenyan-born Manyang, the youngest of the group at 16, says.
“It’s a second home, basically.”
Diing, 20, adds: “Outside of basketball you can say you’ve experienced racism but basketball is like an escape from all that stuff.
“It was a brotherhood.”
Central coach Ricky Simpson, a US-born former NBL star, has been instrumental to the group’s rise, encouraging them to play with flair and to enjoy the game.
Simpson, Adelaide 36ers championship winner Rupert Sapwell and Trinity College, where four of the boys have attended and they won the national school championship last year, helped pay for some members of the group get to tournaments their parents could not afford.
“Ricky embraced everyone and let us play how we play ... and we’re just taking advantage of that opportunity,” Diing says.
“We’re around each other all the time, so we know each other’s games.
“Sometimes it looks exciting to some people but that’s just how we always play.”
No other Premier League team has ever had more than a few African players and the most at a rival club this season is Forestville with three.
Atuer says the build-up to the game between Central and Forestville at Starplex in March was huge in the African community, and drew a large crowd.
Forestville won by 56 points.
“We usually get about 100 people but that time, every seat was full,” he says.
“It was pretty exciting to play in front of them and we tried to put on a show ... but it didn’t go well.”
Since then Central has climbed to sixth on the ladder and been pushing to make the finals.
One player who will not be part of the Lions’ playoffs tilt is Garang.
He headed to Oklahoma — a college that has produced NBA stars Blake Griffin and Buddy Hield — on Sunday.
“It’s a new opportunity and I’ll see where it takes me,” Garang says.
“I’m excited to get to that program and get straight to work.”
Making the playoffs is the team goal and becoming professional the individual one but the aim within their community is to become role models for the next generation of young Africans with the Adelaide Warriors.
“All of them, they’re working how hard we’re working but the opportunity hasn’t presented,” Luk says.
“Hopefully after what we’re doing this season, more eyes will look at it.”
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