Just minutes before the men’s Final Four games tipped off Saturday in San Antonio, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a social media post that could have major implications for dozens of college basketball players, including one at San Diego State.
“I am taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders … effective immediately,” Rubio tweeted, “due to the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner.”
National attention turned to Duke center Khaman Maluach, who was born in South Sudan and presumably is here on a student visa. The 7-foot-2 freshman declined to speak with media following the Blue Devils’ loss to Houston on Saturday night.
Rubio’s edict also could affect SDSU freshman center Thokbor Majak, who was born in South Sudan before attending school in Uganda and Senegal. He came to the States three years ago to a prep academy in the Phoenix area, then redshirted last season for the Aztecs.
SDSU’s university media relations office declined comment.
Redshirt freshman forward Magoon Gwath is the son of South Sudanese immigrants living in the Dallas metroplex, but he was born in the United States and thus qualifies for U.S. citizenship.
Aguek Arop, SDSU’s director of player development and a former Aztecs player, was born in South Sudan and came to the States as a toddler when his family was granted political asylum. He officially became a U.S. citizen in May 2022.
Majak and other South Sudanese players are not likely in danger of removal as things stand now. They could, however, be denied re-entry should they leave the United States and try to return.
“If they are in the country legally and visas have been canceled, then they cannot leave the country,” Travis Murphy, the CEO of Jetr Global Sports who previously worked with the NBA in international governmental affairs, told The Athletic. “They have to stay in status here in the United States and would not be able to leave because they would no longer have a valid visa to get back into the country.”
By some estimates, there are between 50 and 100 South Sudanese natives on college rosters. There are others who are on high school teams.
A State Department spokesperson told USA Today: “We will provide further information and instructions to affected visa holders and applicants as it is available.”
Boyd to Wisconsin
Point guard Nick Boyd is leaving San Diego State but he’ll be back in the city over Thanksgiving with this new team, Wisconsin, for the four-school Rady Children’s Invitational at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Boyd selected the Big Ten power for what agents estimate is at least $1.5 million in NIL money. The Badgers lost three starters and replaced them with Boyd, Virginia guard Andew Rohde and Portland forward Austin Rapp.
This will be Boyd’s sixth year in college, including both a medical waiver and COVID year. After transferring from Florida Atlantic, he led the Aztecs in minutes (29.9), points (13.4) and assists (3.9) per game while shooting 35.1% from 3 and 74.6% from the free-throw line. Over the season’s final 10 games, he averaged 16.8 points and had twice as many assists as turnovers; 247Sports.com ranked Boyd as the No. 49 transfer available this year.
Johnson to Long Beach State
The only other SDSU scholarship player remaining in the portal, Demarshay Johnson Jr., is headed to Long Beach State to play for former Aztecs assistant coach Chris Acker.
Johnson never quite panned out, with a career averages of 0.8 points and 0.8 rebounds per game. He appeared in 15 games a year ago, playing a total of 66 minutes. He is on track to graduate this spring.
Long Beach State finished 7-25 in Acker’s first year as head coach, losing its final 15 games. LBSU finished 10th place in the 11-team Big West Conference.
More transfer news
A year after leaving SDSU for Virginia, forward Elijah Saunders is back in the portal.
He started and finished second on the team in scoring (10.4) and rebounding (5.0). A return to SDSU is unlikely; the Aztecs have two other 4-men, Gwath and 6-9 Charlotte transfer Jeremiah Oden, on the current roster.
New Mexico added 6-6 wing Chris Howell, who played for new coach Eric Olen at UC San Diego. Mikey Howell, his older brother, is among the three assistants who followed Olen to Albuquerque.
UNLV got 7-foot freshman center Emmanuel Stevens, a four-star prospect who picked Arizona over Kansas, Michigan, USC and Miami out of high school but played only 24 minutes for the Wildcats last season.
Nevada got Fresno State forward Elijah Price, who led Mountain West freshmen in scoring (10.5) and rebounding (8.3). He started his career at Drake but did not play before transferring to Fresno State.
Boise State got UCLA point guard Dylan Andrews, who started 60 career games for the Bruins and averaged 12.9 points per game as a sophomore before dropping off to 6.9 as a junior. He has one season of eligibility remaining and saw the writing on the wall with New Mexico’s Donovan Dent, the Mountain West Player of the Year, transferring to Westwood.
Colorado State got Marist guard Josh Pascarelli, who averaged 15.9 points per game and was a first-team all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection.
The Mountain West has four transfers ranked in 247Sports’ top 30, and all four have found new homes: No. 4 Dent from New Mexico to UCLA, No. 9 Dedan Thomas Jr. from UNLV to LSU, No. 27 Obi Agbim from Wyoming to Baylor and No. 30 Nick Davidson from Nevada to Clemson.
