March African Big Board (v.3)
Board featuring the world's best available African NBA draft prospects from around the world, and their projected professional ceilings. Top-100 available for paid subscribers.
March is one of the most consequential months in the basketball ecosystem as college conference tournaments and national tournaments get underway. By this time, most professional scouts of all levels should be at least peripherally tapped into the NCAA game.
That said, this is the perfect time to release our final African big board before NBA Draft withdrawal deadlines. We’ve done our deep dives, watched the film and tracked the stats to compile a revamped big board ranking players of African heritage.
As always, we found new talent worthy of including on this board and also shifted some rankings significantly since the early season. You will notice lots of notable risers and fallers in our lottery and across the board.
Given our lens, we put together a Top-100 of players of African backgrounds who have a professional outlook and are of NBA Draft eligible age.
Like all our big boards here, this series is meant to serve as a resource for NBA, international and G League player evaluation. It could also be a transfer portal reference when it opens.
Players are ranked in best available order, with their ceiling listed as well. The ceiling is our determination based on if players go pro after this season, even if they are realistically two seasons away, etc. A projected 2026 first rounder who is eligible this year could be seen as a two-way candidate in the 2025 draft cycle, for example.
The possible ceilings for each player include the following:
Top five
Top ten
Lottery
First round
Second round
Two-way
International/G League
This board’s “first round” (the first 30 prospects) is available to all. Upgrade your subscription to access to the full Top-100.
1. Khaman Maluach
7’2” | C | Duke
Ceiling: Top five
African country: South Sudan
2. Noa Essengue
6’9” | F | Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)
Ceiling: Lottery
African country: Cameroon
3. Adou Thiero
6’8” | SG/SF | Arkansas
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Mali
4. Nolan Traoré
6’4” | PG | St. Quentin (France)
Ceiling: Top ten
African country: Mali
5. Bangot Dak
6’11” | F | Colorado
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Sourh Sudan
6. Zuby Ejiofor
6’9” | C | St. John’s
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Nigeria
7. Baye Ndongo
6’9” | PF | Georgia Tech
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Senegal
8. Arthur Kaluma
6’7” | F | Texas
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Uganda
9. Mouhamed Faye
6’10” | C | Reggio Emilia (Italy)
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Senegal
10. Adama Bal
6’7” | SG | Santa Clara
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Senegal
11. Magoon Gwath
7’0” | F/C | San Diego State
Ceiling: First Round
African country: South Sudan
12. Abdullah Ahmed
6’10” | C | Westchester Knicks
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Egypt
13. Moustapha Thiam
7’2” | C | Central Florida
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Senegal
14. John Tonje
6’6” | SG | Wisconsin
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Cameroon
15. Otega Oweh
6’5” | SG | Kentucky
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Nigeria
16. Oumar Ballo
7’0” | C | Indiana
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Mali
17. Felix Okpara
6’11” | C | Tennessee
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Nigeria
18. Oswin Erhunmwunse
6’10” | C | Providence
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Nigeria
19. Clifford Omoruyi
6’11” | C | Alabama
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Nigeria
20. Vianney Salatchoum
6’11” | C | Florida International
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Cameroon
21. Saliou Niang
6’7” | F | Trento (Italy)
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Senegal
22. Flory Bidunga
6’9” | C | Kansas
Ceiling: First Round
African country: Democratic Republic of Congo
23. Tobi Lawal
6’8” | F | Virginia Tech
Ceiling: Second Round
African country:
24. Mouhamed Sylla
6’10” | C | Bella Vista Prep
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Senegal
25. Brice Dessert
6’11” | C | Strasbourg (France)
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Cameroon
26. Nelly Junior Joseph
6’9” | C | New Mexico
Ceiling: Two-Way
African country: Nigeria
27. Graham Ike
6’9” | C | Gonzaga
Ceiling: Two-Way
African country: Nigeria
28. Ousmane N’Diaye
6’11” | F | Granada
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Senegal
29. Ladji Coulibaly
6’10” | C | NBA Global Academy
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Mali
30. Paul Mbiya
6’11” | C | ASVEL
Ceiling: Second Round
African country: Democratic Republic of Congo
