NBA closes its only African academy after nearly a decade
DAKAR — The NBA has closed its only training academy in Africa after nearly a decade in Senegal, ending a programme that offered some of the continent’s most promising teenage basketball players a direct development pathway towards US colleges and professional basketball.
The NBA Academy Africa in Saly, about 80km southeast of Dakar, closed at the end of September, Al Jazeera reported. The facility had operated since 2017 and brought together elite prospects from across Africa for basketball training, education and preparation for opportunities abroad.
The closure affects a programme that became an important part of the NBA’s efforts to identify African talent at a younger age. Players selected for the academy lived and trained in Senegal while competing against teams and prospects internationally.
Several academy graduates have progressed to major basketball programmes. Among them is Khaman Maluach of South Sudan, who trained at NBA Academy Africa before playing college basketball at Duke University and becoming an NBA first-round draft pick. The programme has also helped players secure scholarships at NCAA schools and opportunities in professional leagues.
The NBA told Al Jazeera that closing the physical academy did not represent an end to its player development work in Africa. The league said it was moving towards a model that would reach young players in more countries rather than concentrating its elite development programme at one residential facility in Senegal.
That shift will place greater emphasis on regional camps, scouting and development programmes across the continent. The NBA already operates initiatives including Basketball Without Borders Africa and Jr NBA programmes, while NBA Africa and the Basketball Africa League have expanded the organisation’s commercial and competitive presence on the continent.
For young players, however, the Senegal academy offered something different: a permanent high-performance environment where selected prospects could train, study and compete while being observed by coaches, scouts and universities.
Its closure comes as Africa is producing an increasingly visible pipeline of basketball talent. Players with African backgrounds have become prominent in the NBA, while the Basketball Africa League has provided another professional platform for clubs and players based on the continent.
The NBA has not indicated that another residential academy will replace the Senegal facility. Its next phase of African development will instead depend on whether a decentralised model can provide young players across more countries with the level of coaching, competition and international exposure previously concentrated in Saly.
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