A brewing political situation involving the United States and South Sudan could have a major effect on the Final Four as a star for Duke University faces potential deportation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in a tweet on Saturday afternoon that his department would be ‘taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and to restrict any further issuance to prevent entry into the United States, effective immediately.’
Rubio stated the reason for this is due to ‘the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner.’
This could effect Duke University’s men’s basketball team because their starting freshman center, Khaman Maluach, is from South Sudan.
Duke spokespeople told Brendan Marks of The Athletic that they had ‘no comment on the situation at this time’.
Rubio is an alumnus of the University of Florida. On Saturday night, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team clinched a spot in the national championship game.
But this rule will not affect the title game. Duke blew a 14 point lead and didn’t hit a single shot from the field in the final three minutes to fall 70-67 to Houston.
Duke Blue Devils star freshman Khaman Maluach – pictured after his team lost to the Houston Cougars on Saturday – could face deportation from the USA
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of visas of people from South Sudan
Maluach (9) is from South Sudan, grew up as a refugee in Uganda, and went to school in Senegal
It’s unclear if Maluach is in the United States on a South Sudanese visa or if he may have citizenship in another country.
The statement from the State Department earlier in the day read, ‘It is time for the Transitional Government of South Sudan to stop taking advantage of the United States. Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States.
‘Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them.’
Maluach was born in the South Sudanese town of Rumbek, but grew up in neighboring Uganda as a refugee.
He went to high school in Senegal at the NBA Academy Africa before playing professionally for Cobra Sport – a team in his native South Sudan – as a 16-year-old.
Maluach played for two more professional teams – AS Douanes of Senegal and City Oilers of Uganda – before being recruited to Duke. He picked the Blue Devils over offers from UCLA, Kentucky, and Kansas.
Just weeks ago, Maluach said his mother watched Duke win the ACC Championship back in Uganda at 3:00am.
But in the Final Four, Maluach had a below average game impacted by foul trouble.
Maluach had a below average game, putting up six points and failing to haul in a single board
Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg missed his final shot to spell doom for the Blue Devils
He hit one shot from the field and didn’t get a single rebound while racking up a total of six points and four fouls.
Duke was up 14 points with eight minutes remaining in the game as the Blue Devils seemed destined to reach yet another national title game.
But Duke couldn’t hit a single field goal in the final three minutes of the game.
They then went on to give up an 11-1 run to Houston over the final 1:14 – including a 9-0 run in the final 33 seconds to fall by three points.
Duke star Cooper Flagg missed a pullup jumper with eight seconds to go and then guard Tyrese Proctor fouled Cougars star LJ Cryer.
Cryer hit both his shots from the free throw line and Proctor over-shot the basket for Houston to complete the comeback.