MANHATTAN – Rising sophomore guard Selton Miguel has been selected to play for his home country of Angola in the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania, which is set for Tuesday, June 29 through Sunday, July 4 at Zalgirio Arena.
Angola, which currently ranks No. 33 in the world, will be among six countries (Korea, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Venezuela) in Kaunas, Lithuania vying for one of four qualifying spots in the Tokyo Olympic Games, which are scheduled to run from Sunday, July 25 to Saturday, August 7.
The qualifying tournament in Lithuania will include teams from Group A (Korea, Lithuania, Venezuela) and Group B (Angola, Poland, Slovenia) with the top-2 teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. In addition to the one in Kaunas, Lithuania, there will be qualifying tournaments in Victoria, Canada (host Canada), Split, Croatia (host Croatia) and Belgrade, Serbia (host Serbia) for the three remaining spots in the Olympics.
Angola will open Group B play against Poland at 8:30 a.m., CT on Tuesday, June 29 before facing Slovenia at 8:30 a.m., CT on Wednesday, June 30. The two teams with the best records in Group B will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, July 3 to face the two teams with the best records in Group A with the two semifinal winners then advancing to the championship game on Sunday, July 4 for the Olympic qualifying spot.
The games are expected to air on the WatchESPN app or via FIBA’s YouTube channel.
Coached by veteran international coach Jose Claros Canals, the Angolan team went 1-4 at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, dropping games to Serbia and Italy and defeating the Philippines in Group D before losing additional games to Iran and Tunisia. The squad is led by the Atlanta Hawks’ Bruno Fernando, who is the first Angolan to play in the NBA. Fernando is unavailable for the tournament due to his commitment with the Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals. Other prominent members include Angolan legends Eduardo Mingas and Carlos Morais as well as current professionals and former college players, Valdelicio Joaquin (Hawai’i) and Yanick Moreira (SMU).
Angola last played at the Olympics in Beijing 2008 after five consecutive appearances.
Miguel is the youngest member of 17-member Angola National Team and the only current collegiate athlete. The rising sophomore who came to K-State via prep powerhouse West Oaks Academy in Orlando, Florida is coming off a solid first season as Wildcat, in which, he saw action in all 29 games with 22 starts in the last 24 games and averaged 7.2 points on 33 percent shooting with 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.5 minutes per game. He ranked third on the team in assists, fourth in steals and minutes and fifth in scoring.
“It’s always been a dream to represent my country,” said Miguel. “I grew up playing for them on Under-16 and Under-18 teams and now the senior team.”
The Angolan team will face stiff competition to advance out of Group B, as both Poland (13) and Slovenia (16) rank among FIBA’s Top-20. Poland advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where they lost to eventual champion Spain and the Czech Republic in the final two rounds before dropping an 87-74 decision to Team USA in the seventh-place game. Slovenia will be led by a pair of NBA stars in Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and Zoran Dragic (Miami Heat), who last played for their country at the FIBA EuroBasket 2017.
In Group A, host Lithuania, led by a pair of NBA players in Jonas Valanciunas (Memphis Grizzlies) and Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers), has the current highest FIBA ranking at No. 8 and finished ninth at the 2019 FIBA World Championships, while Venezuela is rated at No. 20 and Korea at No. 30.
The Tokyo Olympics will include 12 total countries, as seven directly qualified for the Games through the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, including Spain, Argentina, France, Australia, Serbia, Czech Republic and the United States, while Japan received automatic qualification as the hosts of the event.