JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - American-Malian Cartier Ducati Diarra, has issued a come-get-me call to the Mali national team ahead of their 2025 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers.

Mali, who placed 15th in the 16-team 2021 continental competition hosted in Rwanda for the first time, are set to begin their Qualifiers in the second window slated for 22-24 November 2024. 

The side is in group A alongside Olympics-bound South Sudan, DR Congo, and Mozambique.

"I would love to play for Mali," Diarra told FIBA.Basketball, adding: "This has been a dream for me and I hope to join the team sometime soon."

The Malian prospect, born and raised in Harlem, New York, says he was initially in talks with the Mali federation in 2022 but his inclusion in the national team was stalled by an injury that he has since recovered from.

At the time, the point guard was yet to make his debut in African basketball. But, Diarra has since had his feel of the continent’s basketball when he joined Cape Town Tigers for the 2024 BAL qualification tournament. He eventually featured for the Tigers in the BAL Kalahari Conference.

Diarra made his first appearance for the Mlungisi Ngwenya-coached Tigers in the ‘Road to BAL’ matches hosted in Johannesburg last December.

Despite missing out on the opening match against Dynamo BBC of Burundi, a match the hosts won 76-61, he helped the side qualify for the main tournament, scoring the game-winning basket in the West Division final against City Oilers.

"The experience with Tigers has been eye-opening. I have gained experience and, should the national federation come calling I would be ready and eager," Diarra, whose Tigers finished third in the Kalahari Conference in BAL and could make the Playoffs in Rwanda, said.  

"I wanted to represent Stade Malian in BAL as it would have given me an amazing opportunity to be back home. However, not everything works out as we want at that moment but I hope to do that at some point.

"I would love to do everything in African now. Playing overseas basketball gives one the chance to experience different things but I am ready to explore African basketball which I have enjoyed so far," the 26-year-old further opened up.

The Malian men's national team has historically not been competitive on the African scene. Despite qualifying 20 times for the AfroBasket out of a possible 30, they have only once finished in the medal bracket when they picked bronze back in 1972.

This is a sharp contrast to the women's team that has had greater success, picking  four bronzes, two silvers and a gold in their AfroBasket history, two World Cup appearances and one Olympic berth back in 2008, a run the men's team would be thrilled to replicate.

FIBA