Excitement about the 2024 NBA Draft filled the basketball scene over the weekend as fans focused on the fate of the litany of players set to be selected in the draft.
Completesports.com’s DOTUN OMISAKIN takes a look at the nine African-Americans selected in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Pacome Dadiet
He is one of the African Americans who will be selected with the 25th overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA draft.
Dadiet, of African origin from the Ivory Coast, began his professional basketball career with Saint-Charles Charenton in 2011, where he spent nine years joining the Federal Basketball Centre’s youth team.
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He represented France at the 2021 FIBA ​​U16 European Challengers, where he played in five games and averaged six points and 1.4 rebounds. He subsequently participated in the 2022 FIBA ​​Under-17 Basketball World Cup and helped France win the bronze medal, averaging 4.3 points, 2.2 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game.
Jonathan Mogbo
The Raptors selected Mogbo with the 31st overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Mogbo, who has Nigerian roots, began his career in college basketball, where he spent two years before joining Missouri State and ending up in San Francisco last season.
The power forward 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-American with the 40th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2024 NBA Draft, but that same night during the draft show, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Ighodaro, who has Nigerian roots, started out as a college athlete with the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he played five games before suffering an injury and wearing a medical redshirt.
Adem Bona
Adem Bona emerged as one of the African Americans to be selected with the 41st overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Bona, born Ikechukwu Stanley Okoro in Nigeria before moving to Turkey at age 13, played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins.
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He represented Turkey at the junior level 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 last pick in the draft.
Born in Germany to Togolese parents and raised by a single mother, he started out as a footballer before switching to basketball.
His first season in the Jugend Basketball Bundesliga, the German under-16 league, with USC Freiburg attracted offers from well-known clubs, including Bayern Munich and Brose Bamberg. He decided to continue his career with Riesen Ludwigsburg and its youth team, Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg.
Yves Missi
Missi was selected with the 21st overall pick by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Born in Belgium but raised in Yaoundé, Cameroon, she moved to the United States and West Nottingham Academy in Maryland in 2021.
He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears.
Ulrich Chomche
Chomche is from Cameroon. He etched his name in history by becoming the first NBA Academy Africa prospect to be selected, as well as the first player to be selected directly from an 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 Abdul 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 the LNB Espoirs, the French under-21 league, in 2021.
Two years later, he was invited to participate in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp during All-Star weekend.
Alex Sarr
Sarr, of 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 national youth team and played for the Perth Wildcats of Australia’s National Basketball League before being selected.
