Historic NBA Draft night for Cameroon's Ulrich Chomche, Missi

 

NEW YORK (USA) - The glitz, thrills and fanfare that greeted the 2024 NBA draft remains in the minds of many who followed it, especially from Cameroon.

It was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft and unlike recent years, the 2024 event took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft was shortened to two rounds, with earlier drafts consisting of as few as three or as many as seven rounds before the current format's debut in 1989.

However, one player stood tall for the nation of Cameroon and he goes by the name Ulrich Chomche. The question many may ask is why he is a standout.

 

Chomche is a NBA Academy Africa graduate. The 18-year-old spent the last four years at the elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal.

The 2.10m (6ft 11in) was selected 57th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2024 NBA Draft, making him the first NBA Academy Africa prospect drafted to the NBA.

According to NBA Africa, Chomche made history as the first prospect across all three of the league’s NBA Academies (located in Senegal, Mexico and Australia) to be drafted directly out of an NBA Academy.

He is the first player to be drafted after participating in the Basketball Africa League (BAL). 

What makes it exciting is the fact that he is not the only Cameroonian on the night to be drafted.

His compatriot Yves Missi was selected 21st overall by the New Orleans Pelicans a night earlier.

 

Chomche happens to be the seventh player from Cameroon to be drafted, following former NBA player and BAL Head of League Operations Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (2001 NBA Draft), former NBA player Luc Mbah a Moute (2008), Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid (third overall in 2014 NBA Draft), Indiana Pacers’ Pascal Siakam (2016), Christian Koloko (33rd overall in 2022 NBA Draft.

This also marks the first time that two players from Cameroon were selected in the same NBA Draft.

Chomche made his BAL debut in 2022, playing for his country's Forces Armees et Police (FAP). A year later, Chomche represented Rwanda Energy Group (REG) in the pan-African basketball league.

Last year, Chomche helped his country to a perfect (4-0) record in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Africa held in Lagos, Nigeria. He has also represented the World Team at the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon last April.

Selected by Rwanda's APR for the BAL season 4, Chomche skipped the season to concentrate in the NBA Draft, which turned out a huge success not only for the former NBA Academy Africa standout but also for the central African nation. 

FIBA