Rising NBA Prospect From South Sudan Faces U.S. Visa Crisis

(Juba) – Khaman Maluach, a rising basketball star from South Sudan and a projected NBA lottery pick, may be at risk of deportation following a new decision by the U.S. State Department that immediately revokes all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders.

The announcement was made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio just hours before Maluach’s Duke University team suffered a Final Four defeat to the University of Houston on Saturday night in San Antonio. According to Rubio’s statement posted on social media platform X, the measure was taken because South Sudan allegedly failed to accept the return of its nationals expelled from the U.S. “in a timely manner.”

The decision halts both current and future U.S. visa access for South Sudanese nationals, placing student-athletes like Maluach in a precarious position. A State Department spokesperson told Yahoo Sports that the ruling “will impact all those who have a U.S. visa in a South Sudanese passport and anyone with a South Sudanese passport who is applying for a U.S. visa.”

Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center who represented South Sudan’s national team during last summer’s Olympics, spent much of his childhood in Uganda after fleeing the conflict in South Sudan. He is one of three top NBA prospects from a Duke team that entered the tournament as one of the favorites to win the national title.

He was not made available for comment after the game, and it remains unclear whether he was aware of the visa revocation announcement before playing. Maluach scored six points in 21 minutes during what became one of his weakest performances of the season.

Duke University spokesperson Frank Tramble issued a brief statement on Saturday night saying the school was “aware of the announcement from the Department of State regarding visa holders from South Sudan” and was “working expeditiously to understand any implications for Duke students.”

With 35 wins this season, Duke’s run was cut short by a late collapse against Houston, which erased a 14-point deficit in the final minutes. While the team’s loss was notable on the court, off the court, attention quickly turned to the broader implications of the U.S. government’s new visa restrictions targeting South Sudanese nationals.

The decision has a direct human impact on young South Sudanese living and studying in the US, many of whom see education and sport as a pathway to opportunity. Maluach is now caught between basketball dreams and international policy.