Arizona forward Mabil Mawut has launched a project called Children of the Nile intended to benefit the youth of his native South Sudan through basketball.
Mawut posted that he's intending to collect basketball shoes and send them South Sudanese youth with the hope of getting them a chance "to play and believe." His project's website also describes mentorship programs, camps and clinics and community partnerships.
Mawut
A redshirting freshman this season who arrived at UA after a journey through Uganda, Senegal and the Bronx, Mawut was born in a Sudanese refugee camp, then took up basketball when his family moved to Uganda, and later moved to the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal.
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"I lived the path," Mawut posted on the project's website. "Now I'm building one for the next kid in camp who sees a basketball and sees a future."
Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenkov posted that he's going to hold a youth basketball camp on May 16 in Germany. His father, former professional and Soviet Union team member Alexander Kharchenkov, is listed as one of the coaches.
Kharchenkov is expected to return for next season with the Wildcats, though if he wanted to test the NBA Draft and were invited to the NBA Combine, it is scheduled for May 13-17 in Chicago.
