The buzz of the 2024 NBA Draft filled the basketball scene during the weekend as enthusiasts were focused on the fate of the litany of players who would be selected in the draft.
Completesports.com‘s DOTUN OMISAKIN looks at the nine African descents who were selected in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Pacome Dadiet
He is one of the African descents to be selected with the 25th overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA draft.
Dadiet whose African root is traced to Ivory-Coast began his professional basketball career with Saint-Charles Charenton in 2011, where he spent nine years joining the youth team of Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball.
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He represented France at the 2021 FIBA U16 European Challengers, where he played five games and averaged six points and 1.4 rebounds. He later participated at the 2022 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup and helped France win the bronze medal while averaging 4.3 points, 2.2 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game.
Jonathan Mogbo
Mogbo was selected by the Raptors with the No.31 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Mogbo who has a Nigerian root began his career with the Junior college basketball where he spent two years before joining the Missouri State and finished at San Francisco last season.
The power forward player recorded 14.2 points, 10.1 rebounds. 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 63.6 percent from the field in the 2023-24 season.
Osasere Ighodaro
He was selected as the third African descent with the 40th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2024 NBA Draft, but the same night during the draft program, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Ighodaro, who has a Nigerian root began as a collegiate athlete with the Marquette Golden Eagles where he played five games before suffering an injury and using a medical redshirt.
Adem Bona
Adem Bona emerged as one of the African descents to be selected with the 41st overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Bona with the Nigerian name Ikechukwu Stanley Okoro before traveling to Turkey at age 13, played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins.
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He represented the Turkish at the age grade at the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship in Udine, where he averaged 14.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, and four blocks per game, leading Turkey to fifth place.
Ariel Hukporti
Ariel Washington Hukporti, 22, was selected with the 58th overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA draft, which was the draft’s final pick.
He was born in Germany to Togolese parents and was raised by a single mother. He began as a football player before switching to basketball
His first season in the Jugend Basketball Bundesliga, the German U16 league, with USC Freiburg attracted offers from renowned clubs, including Bayern Munich and Brose Bamberg. He decided to continue his career with Riesen Ludwigsburg and its junior team, Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg.
Yves Missi
Missi was selected with the 21st overall pick by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2024 NBA Draft.
He was born in Belgium but grew up in Yaoundé, Cameroon. In 2021, he moved to the United States and West Nottingham Academy in Maryland.
He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears.
Ulrich Chomche
Chomche is from Cameroon. He etched his name in history as he became the first NBA Academy Africa prospect to be drafted, as well as the first player to be drafted directly out of any NBA Academy.
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The 18-year-old was selected with the 57th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2024 NBA Draft, however, immediately on draft night, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors.
Tidjane Abdoul Salaun
Salaun was selected with the sixth overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2024 NBA draft.
He began his professional career playing for Cholet Basket’s youth team in LNB Espoirs, the French under-21 league, in 2021.
Two years later, he was invited to take part in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp during the All-Star Game weekend.
Alex Sarr
Sarr, a Senegalese descent, was selected with the second overall pick by the Washington Wizards in the 2024 NBA draft.
The 19-year-old is the younger brother of basketball player,Olivier Sarr.
He represented the French youth national team and played for the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League before being drafted.
