sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Mangok Mathiang (born 8 October 1992) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the University of Louisville.

Mangok Mathiang

Mathiang with Louisville in 2015
No. 2 – Illawarra Hawks
Position	Power forward / Center
League	NBL
Personal information
Born	(1992-10-08) 8 October 1992 (age 30) Juba, Sudan (now South Sudan)
Nationality	South Sudanese / Australian
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school	Emmanuel College (Melbourne, Victoria) IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida)
College	Louisville (2013–2017)
NBA draft	2017 / Undrafted
Playing career	2017–present
Career history
2017–2018	Charlotte Hornets
2017–2018	→Greensboro Swarm
2018–2019	Vanoli Cremona
2019–2020	Bahçeşehir Koleji
2022	Casey Cavaliers
2022–present	Illawarra Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Slovenian League champion (2021) Italian Cup winner (2019)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and high school career

Mathiang was born in Juba under what is now South Sudan. At the age of five, he, his mother and five siblings fled the war-torn Sudan and moved to Egypt to set up a move to Australia. His father, Alfret, decided to stay behind in Sudan.[1] Mathiang and the rest of his family arrived in Sydney with extended family members when he was seven years old before moving to Melbourne a year later. Until he was sixteen years old, Mathiang played Australian rules football for Emmanuel College in Altona North. However, due to him being 1.98m tall, he was encouraged to start playing basketball instead, moving to the United States of America with his friend, Ran Tut, to achieve that goal.

During his junior year of high school, he played basketball for Brehm Preparatory School in Carbondale, Illinois. After that, Mathiang moved out to Bradenton, Florida to play his senior season at the IMG Academy. In his senior season, he averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game as he helped the IMG Academy get themselves a 28-2 record and become one of 11 players from the team that year to earn scholarships to NCAA teams. While Mathiang also received offers from Kansas State University, University of Georgia, Mississippi State University, Auburn University, and Central Michigan University, he ultimately chose to go to the University of Louisville for the people there.

College career

He originally was with the Louisville Cardinals during the 2012-13 season, but due to NCAA regulations relating to international players like Mathaing, he was forced to sit out his first season with the team. Despite that, he still traveled and trained with the team throughout the season, all the way into the 2013 NCAA Championship Game, where the Cardinals would win their 3rd NCAA Tournament. Throughout his NCAA career, Mathiang mostly played as a bench reserve, with him usually alternating spots as a starter at times for Louisville. During his junior season, he would be limited to playing in only 10 games total for them due to an injury that would sideline him for the majority of that season.[2] As a result of when the injury came about, he would not be deemed eligible for another redshirt season that year. His best season would be in his senior year with Louisville, where he would average 7.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 20.8 minutes of action per game in 33 games played.

Professional career

Charlotte Hornets and Greensboro Swarm

After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft, Mathiang played for the Charlotte Hornets during the 2017 NBA Summer League. In the five games played for the Hornets during the Orlando Summer League, he averaged 4.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game for the team off the bench. On 2 August 2017, Mathiang signed a two-way contract with the Hornets.[3] Under the terms of the deal, he split the 2017–18 season with the Hornets and their NBA G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. He played just 20 minutes at the NBA level, spending most of his time in the G League. There, with the Swarm, he averaged 10.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 25.3 minutes. He was waived by the Hornets on 15 August 2018.[4]

Guerino Vanoli Basket

On 22 August 2018, Mathiang signed with Vanoli Cremona of the Lega Basket Serie A.[5] Cremona went to win its first Italian Cup ever by beating New Basket Brindisi 83–74 in the Finals.[6]

Bahçeşehir Koleji

On 11 July 2019, Mathiang signed with Bahçeşehir Koleji of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).[7] He averaged 12.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.[8]

Cedevita Olimpija

Mathiang was set to play for Cedevita Olimpija of the ABA League in the 2020–21 season,[9] but later missed the whole season after sustaining a right leg injury in practice that required surgery.[10] He re-signed with Cedevita Olimpija in May 2021,[11] but was let go in August 2021 after the injury worsened.[12]

Illawarra Hawks

After a stint with the Casey Cavaliers during the 2022 NBL1 South season,[13] Mathiang signed with the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League on 29 July 2022.[14]

National team career

Mathiang made his debut for the Australian national team in a 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifying match against Kazakhstan.[15]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2017–18	Charlotte	4	0	5.0	.571	–	.000	2.5	.0	.3	.0	2.0
Career		4	0	5.0	.571	–	.000	2.5	.0	.3	.0	2.0

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2013–14	Louisville	37	14	14.7	.528	–	.619	3.6	.4	.4	1.4	3.6
2014–15	Louisville	34	9	18.7	.388	–	.481	4.7	.5	.6	1.4	2.6
2015–16	Louisville	10	2	18.8	.563	–	.586	5.7	.5	.7	1.2	7.1
2016–17	Louisville	33	19	20.8	.531	–	.671	6.0	.7	.5	1.1	7.8
Career		114	44	18.0	.506	–	.599	4.8	.5	.5	1.3	4.8

References

External links

• Louisville Cardinals bio

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