By R.L. Bynum
Former Carolina center Maria Gakdeng will take her basketball career to international and professional stages this year — and be part of history.
Gakdeng has signed with KSC Szekszárd, a top-tier professional team in Hungary, and will represent South Sudan in its first appearance in the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket tournament. Matilda Rial, Gakdeng’s mom, confirmed both.
“I am excited to start this new chapter in my life, as my dream has come true and I can continue my career as a professional basketball player,” Gakdeng said in the team’s Instagram post. “My goal in my first professional season is clearly to benefit my team and come up with an even better game than last year. It will be a real challenge to develop and perfect my game in a new, unknown environment for me, and I will try to develop a close relationship with my future teammates and coaches — and see the world together, because I love to travel.”
Gakdeng, who went to training camp with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream but didn’t make the team, is the second Carolina player to sign a pro contract in Hungary. Guard Lexi Donarski signed last month with the TFSE-MTA team based in Budapest, 97 miles away from Szekszárd.
The 29th Women’s Afrobasket tournament will be played in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, July 25 through Aug. 3, with 12 African countries competing. South Sudan will be in Group B, playing Mali on July 26 and Cameroon on July 27.
Gakdeng earned second-team All-ACC honors last season, finishing with the ninth-best career field-goal percentage in the ACC at 59.2%. Last season, she shot 58.7%, the third best in a season in UNC program history. She scored a career-high 25 points against Virginia on March 3 and had three blocks in two games last season.
The 6–3 Gakdeng played her final two seasons at UNC after playing her first two college seasons at Boston College.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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