Things could be going from bad to worse for Khaman Maluach.
After the Duke freshman centre suffered an epic collapse during Saturday’s NCAA Final Four game against Houston, Maluach may now be facing deportation after a new Trump policy.
The new policy in question involves a State Department ruling on South Sudanese visa holders – of which Maluach is one.
In a post on X by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday, the former senator of Florida announced that he is “taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders,” which would include the Blue Devils centre.
Maluach, who was born in South Sudan, concluded his freshman season with Duke on Saturday night as the Blue Devils blew a massive lead in the second half of the national semifinal.
Rubio claimed the restriction was “due to the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner,” meaning the African nation has not said it will take back its migrants booted from the US within a certain time frame.
Maluach declined to speak with reporters after Saturday’s game.
According to the New York Post, a spokesman for Duke University said the school is “looking into the situation and working expeditiously to understand the implications for Duke students.”
A State Department rep also told USA Today that the decision would “impact all those who have a U.S. visa in a South Sudanese passport and anyone with a South Sudanese passport who is applying for a U.S. visa.
“We will provide further information and instructions to affected visa holders and applicants as it is available,” the representative said.
Maluach, who stands 7-foot-2 and weighs 250 pounds, hails from Rumbek, South Sudan. He is seen as a potential top-10 pick in this year’s NBA draft, and, as Postmedia’s Frank Zicarelli recently opined, Maluach would be a great fit for the Raptors, should they lose out in the lottery process.
The 18-year-old big man is not the same type of can’t-miss prospect as his Duke teammate, Cooper Flagg, but he could make an instant impact defensively in the NBA and would mesh well with the current Raptors lineup.
Also, as Ryan Wolstat noted in his NCAA tournament preview, Maluach also shows signs that he could develop into a better shooter than he currently is.
During the Final Four loss to Houston, Maluach scored six points in 21 minutes, notching one assist and failing to come up with a single rebound.