Kuany Kuany (basketball, born 2000)

Kuany Kuany
No. 8 – Illawarra Hawks
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBL
Personal information
Born (2000-03-27) 27 March 2000 (age 24)
Kakuma, Kenya
NationalitySouth Sudanese / Australian
Listed height2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight91 kg (201 lb)
Career information
High school
CollegeCalifornia (2019–2023)
VCU (2023–2024)
Playing career2024–present
Career history
2024–presentIllawarra Hawks

Kuany Kuany (born 27 March 2000) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the VCU Rams of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Standing at 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in), he plays the power forward position.

Early life

Kuany was born in Kakuma, Kenya.[1] He spent time between South Sudan and Kenya before his family moved to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 6 years old. He started playing basketball at age 11 and moved to the United States on his own at age 15 to pursue basketball.[1]

High school career

Kuany attended Victory Rock Prep and Prolific Prep. In May 2019, Kuany committed to the California Golden Bears. He chose the Golden Bears over Washington State and Nevada.[2]

College career

Kuany played for the California Golden Bears between 2019 and 2023.[1] He missed a game on 9 January 2021 due to a concussion.[3] After graduating with his undergraduate degree in sociology, Kuany decided to enter his name in the transfer portal to use his final year of eligibility.[4]

On 22 May 2023, Kuany joined the VCU Rams men's basketball team.[5] In 38 games with the Rams during the 2023–24 season, he made 37 starts and averaged 5.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game.[6]

Professional career

Kuany joined the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) as a training player for the 2024–25 season.[7][8][9]

National team

In November 2024, Kuany joined the South Sudan national team for the AfroBasket 2025 qualifiers.[9]

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

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 California 28 2 6.6 .389 .357 .667 1.1 .3 .1 .1 2.2
2020–21 California 26 3 9.3 .429 .200 .647 1.3 .4 .0 .2 2.3
2021–22 California 30 16 17.0 .413 .319 .769 2.4 .5 .6 .5 4.8
2022–23 California 32 26 25.3 .359 .298 .823 3.9 .8 .6 .4 9.0
2023–24 VCU 38 37 16.8 .447 .380 .882 2.4 .5 .5 .4 5.7
Career 154 84 15.5 .400 .325 .781 2.3 .5 .4 .4 5.0

References

  1. ^ a b c "Kuany Kuany - Men's Basketball". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  2. ^ Lawson, Theo (9 May 2019). "Highly coveted forward Kuany Kuany chooses Cal over Washington State, Nevada". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  3. ^ Curtis, Jake (9 January 2021). "Cal Basketball: Bears Get First Pac-12 Win – And Without Matt Bradley". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  4. ^ Curtis, Jake (18 March 2023). "Cal Basketball: Kuany Kuany Enters Transfer Portal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  5. ^ "RAMS SIGN CAL TRANSFER KUANY, BRITISH STANDOUT BELLE". VCU Athletics. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Kuany Kuany College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Kuany Kuany". Illawarra Hawks | Official NBL Website. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Hopes Rise Together at Illawarra Hawks for NBL25". Illawarra Hawks | Official NBL Website. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Kuany Kuany to represent South Sudan in the Afrobasket 2025 Qualfiers". Illawarra Hawks | Official NBL Website. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.