SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Ever since the inception of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2007, a number of players from Africa have made a tremendous splash in the tournament.

Although their teams have never reached the Quarter-Finals, individually, some players have left their fingerprints in the competition's history books.

"The message I have for African teams is 'go there play your heart off because it's a lifetime opportunity you never know when your next World Cup will be." - Coulibaly

As Egypt prepares to host the biennial event for the very first time on African soil next month (July 1-9), I will share with you how much impact Africa representatives have made in the tournament history.

Over the last decade, Egypt's trio of Assem Marei, Ahmed Khalaf and Amr Sherif Mohamed Abdelhalim, Mali's Waly Coulibaly, Miguel Kiala of Angola, and Nigerian Solomon Alabi had some eye-catching performances at FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.

And here is why.

Solomon Alabi

Playing in the inaugural FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2007, Alabi set a tournament record for most blocked shots (2.8 per game). The mark lasted for four years until Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas sparked his country to the 2011 event title with 3.2 blocks per game. With 2.9 swats per contest in 2015, Egypt's Ahmed Khalaf currently holds Africa's record for most blocks in a FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. 

Assem Marei

Think about Egypt's basketball resurgent, and you will probably come across with Marei's name. The 24-year-old introduced himself to international basketball at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Latvia in 2011 where he not only averaged a tournament-high 2.3 steals per game but also became the third player in the history of the competition to register six double-doubles. Only Brazil's Paulo Prestes (9) and Jonas Valanciunas (7) emerge ahead of Marei. 

Waly Coulibaly

Mali's Waly Coulibaly made the tournament's history books as the first player to score 22 points against a star-studded and eventual champions USA team which counted with the services of Stephen Curry, DeAndre Jordan and Patrick Beverley. The Malian point guard went on to finish as the tournament fourth leading scorer with 19.6 points per game. 

Miguel Kiala

The Angolan power forward finished with 13.6 rebounds per game - the highest mark at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand in 2009. Two years later Valanciunas toppled that mark with 13.9 boards per game. Prestes remains the competition's all-time top rebounder with 14.7 boards per game while Kiala currently ranks fourth behind Iran's Mohamad Yousof Vand.

Amr Sherif Mohamed Abdelhalim

The Egyptian shooting guard currently holds the record for the most points scored by a player from Africa. Back in 2009, he tallied a total of 152 points, helping Egypt to a 2-6 mark as the North Africans claimed an 11th-place finish. His national teammate Assem Marei comes second with 148 points.

So I invited Coulibaly to share his experience of playing at FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.

Coulibaly tries to stop Patrick Beverley in the opener of 2007 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Serbia 

This is what he had to say about his FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup participation: "I was very excited about it after finishing with [2006] U18 AfroBasket, I start getting ready for the World Cup practising morning and afternoon I was so excited you couldn't imagine.

"[Scoring 22 points against the USA] wasn't my best game with Mali Jersey but I will say my best game with Mali National team was in African cup when I put the team on my back to go to the final but unfortunately we lost against Nigeria. But I was ready to play against the USA because since we knew what was our group and the first game against USA I had my mindset prepared to play my heart off at that game.

"I knew we couldn't beat them but we gotta play hard as we can. At that time Steph [Curry], [Patrick] Beverley and DeAndre [Jordan] were in college. We didn't really know who they were until the moment we started seeing them in the NBA. 

"That's awesome that Egypt are hosting the World Cup. The message I have for African teams is 'go there play your heart off because it's a lifetime opportunity you never know when your next World Cup will be. This is an opportunity for you to represent your country and show the world what you can do and what you can become in the future."

Angola, Egypt and Mali will be Africa's representative at FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 in Cairo.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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