Much like each year we will now again give you guys an overview of all the Belgian Student/Athletes who are pursuing their American Dream and will be competing in the several school championships in the USA this year.
NCAA:
- Stéphan Dibongue Swenson – UC Santa Barbara:
- After 4 seasons at Stetson, Stéphan Dibongue Swenson has transferred to UCSB where he will replace Ajay Mitchell as the starting Point Guard. Coming off a senior season in which he averaged 13.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.8 apg & 1.5 spg for Stetson, Dibongue graduated as their all-time assist leader with 603 assists. As a graduate student Dibongue is now looking to finish off his college career at UCSB, undoubtedly hoping he will be able to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Ajay Mitchell and make it to the NBA.
- Aubin Gateretse – Utah State:
- In his third season at Stetson – alongside Dibongue Swenson – Aubin Gateretse really came into his own, getting himself in the starting line-up and upping his stats to very solid averages of 11.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg & 1.5 bpg throughout the season. His strong play in the A-Sun tournament earned him a spot in the All-Tournament team. For his senior year Gateretse has now made the move to Utah State where he will attempt to continue his steady progression.
- Matthew Hodge – Villanova:
- After appearing in 4 games for Mons-Hainaut in the BNXT League in the 2021-’22 season, Matthew Hodge moved to the States to join St. Rose High School (coached by Brian Lynch) in 2022. Along with his younger brother Jayden, Hodge helped St. Rose to 2 consecutive championship titles. As a senior at St. Rose Hodge averaged 17.0 ppg & 6.7 rpg. His play garnered attention from several colleges but he eventually settled on Villanova, coincidentally (or not) the same school where his coach Brian Lynch has played in the late ’90’s. At TIB we will be watching closely to see how Hodge lifts his game to this next level.
- Allen Mukeba – Oakland:
- Entering his 5th year in the USA, Mukeba has gone from Golden State Prep, Colby CC, Missouri-Kansas City to now embark on a new challenge at Oakland University, in search for more playing-time. Despite only playing 14.9 mpg last year at Missouri-Kansas City Mukeba still averaged very solid numbers with his 7.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg & 0.9 bpg. We hope that at Oakland, Mukeba will now get the chance to fully showcase his skills this year.
- Osahon Obasohan – Hawaii:
- The younger brother of Retin Obasohan, Osahon made the move to the States in 2021 when he joined Prep School The Skill Factory. He then graduated from Brandon Hall HS in 2022. For the 2023-’24 season Obasohan then returned to Europe as he competed for Le Mans in the French Espoirs Championship, averaging 14.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.9 apg & 1.5 spg. He even got 2 call-ups to the big boys as he played 1 game in the French top division and 1 game in the Champions League. This off-season Obasohan then again went across the ocean as he enrolled at Hawaii where he will attempt to replace that other Belgian youngster Noel Coleman who graduated last summer.
- Tom Mark – Cal State Bakersfield:
- Mark is another of those Belgian youngsters who made the move to the States early on (in 2020) as he will now already enter his 5th year in the States. After seasons at Salt Lake CC, Eastern Wyoming and Tallahassee, Mark now enters his second and senior year at California State Bakersfield where last year the athletic Forward averaged solid all-rounded numbers of 5.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.0 spg & 1.1 bpg.
- David Verstraeten – Alabama A&M:
- The former Antwerp Giant and GSG Aarschot player made his first move across the Atlantic in 2023 when he joined LA Premier Prep. This summer Verstraeten was selected to the Belgian U20 National Team, competing in several exhibition games but unfortunately missing out on their Eurobasket campaign. According to several sources Verstraeten then was offered and accepted to enroll at Alabama A&M but when checking out their official roster, Verstraeten’s name is not listed so it seems unlikely that he will see any action this year. Possibly he has moved schools in the meantime but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any info on that. To keep an eye on. *Update: Due to legibility issues Verstraeten won’t play for Alabama A&M and has signed with Badajoz Academy in Spain.
- Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk – South Carolina:
- Already entering his 6th year overall in the NCAA and his third year with South Carolina, Bosmans-Verdonk is a graduate student who holds the honor of being the only Law Student to play Division 1 basketball. His resumé on the court is slightly less impressive than his off-court accomplishments as in his 5 years so far he only averaged 1.8 ppg & 2.4 rpg, playing less than 10.0 mpg. It’s clear that Bosmans-Verdonk’s future will most likely be played in a courthouse rather than on a basketball court. Still, combining D1 basketball with studying for a law degree is quite impressive to say the least.
- Alston Mason – Arizona State:
- Undoubtedly an unexpected name to appear on this overview is Alston Mason. Unknown to most Belgian Basketball fans (including myself until I started researching for this article), Mason is the son of former professional player Alton Mason who played 4 seasons in Belgium. Alton Mason was playing for Tournai-Estaimpuis when Alston was born, therefore Alston could possibly get the double nationality USA/BEL if he chooses to, which makes it interesting to follow his exploits. Mason is entering his senior year at Arizona State after previously playing for Oklahoma and 2 years at Missouri State. Last year at Missouri State Mason showed his potential as he averaged 17.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg & 3.6 apg.
NCAA2:
- Alan Dibongue Swenson – Lake Erie:
- The older Brother of Stéphan Dibongue, Alan Dibongue Swenson will enter his 6th year in The States as he joined Lake Erie this past off-season. Previously Dibongue competed for Northwest (3 years) and Miles (1 year), before joining Notre Dame Falcons last year, but unfortunately he did not play. This year Dibongue is looking to bounce back as a graduate student at Lake Erie. Just like his brother Dibongue is a point-guard pur-sang with excellent court-vision. In his 4 year college career so far he has averaged 5.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.4 apg & 1.3 spg.
- Reumang Emagna – Lincoln:
- Emagna started his American journey back in 2018 when he enrolled at Tri-City Christian High School. After graduation he then joined Cuesta Community College where he played 2 years, averaging a total of 5.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg & 1.3 apg in 41 games played. Last year he then briefly returned to Belgium where he competed in the Regional 1 Championship. This year Emagna is back across the Atlantic as he enrolled at Lincoln University.
- Matthieu Biembongo – Lincoln:
- Joining Emagna at Lincoln is Brussels native, 6’11” Forward Matthieu Biembongo who will start his collegiate career after attending Victory Rock Prep last year. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any more information on his background so it’ll be a nice discovery to see what Biembongo can bring to the table.
- Hugo Mattioli – Florida Southern:
- Mattioli made the move abroad in 2021 when he joined Veritas Academy, followed by 2 years at Panola (NJCAA). At Panola he averaged a total of 3.8 ppg & 1.5 rpg. This year Mattioli transferred to Florida Southern where he will hopefully get some decent playing time and continue to further develop his game.
NCAA3:
- Dante De Moor – Colby-Sawyer:
- A former player from Ronse-Kluisbergen, Waregem and then followed by the Elite Academy in Antwerp, De Moor moved to the States in 2022 where he joined Combine Academy. The following year he then joined Lee Academy and this past off-season the combo-guard enrolled at Colby-Sawyer where he will now start his collegiate career.
NAIA:
- Romain Bruwier – Huntington:
- The former player from Liège Basket is now in his 2nd season in the States where he competes at Huntington. Last year the Forward averaged 4.2 ppg & 2.3 rpg in 12.4 mpg. Undoubtedly Bruwier will be looking to up those numbers in his senior year and he’s definitely off to a good start as in the season-opener – a win against East-West – he finished with 14 pts & 8 rebs in 25 minutes of action.
NJCAA:
- Elijah Tshibangu – Murray State:
- The former player from United Basket Woluwe, Brussels Basket and Royal IV Brussels has made the move to the States this off-season as he enrolled at Murray State. With already 3 seasons of experience in the BNXT League with Brussels Basket under his belt I have no doubt that Tshibangu will have a big impact on the court for Murray State.
- Ethan Nsiona – Spoon River:
- Nsiona got his early development at Spirou Charleroi before he made the move to the States in 2021 when he joined Combine Academy High School. Last year the youngster then enrolled at Middle Georgia Prep before now joining Spoon River Junior College to start his collegiate career. Nsiona is an explosive guard who has a knack for scoring.
- Logan Mukeba – Spoon River:
- Joining Nsiona at Spoon River is Logan Mukeba, the younger brother of Allen Mukeba who I discussed earlier in this article. Mukeba went to the States in 2021 and has moved around quite a bit so far, going through Lee Academy, Missouri-Kansas City and Chadron State before now enrolling at Spoon River where he hopefully will get his first real action at the college level.
- Max Postiglione – UA Cossatot:
- After 2 years at Northwest Max Postiglione has made the transfer to the University of Arkansas Cossatot as a sophomore this year. In his 2 years at Northwest Postiglione only played limited minutes in which he averaged 2.3 ppg & 1.1 rpg in 29 total games.
High School / Prep:
- Augustine Ikolo – Southern Coast Academy:
- The youngster from the Basket@Sea Academy in Oostende Ikolo has moved to Southern Coast Academy this off-season for his first experience in the States. He actually has a nice little vlog going on about his experiences so far, so if you want to check that out you can visit his Youtube site. His athleticism reminds me of Tom Mark, but Ikolo does have a lot more offensive weapons, so he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.
- Eric Dibami Tomou – Columbus HS:
- Another former player from Oostende who moved to the States this year is Eric Dibami Tomou. The big man with Cameroonian roots joined Columbus High School and will be looking to make an impression to move up to college after graduation. Last year Dibami played in the French Espoirs (U21) league for Boulogne where he averaged 6.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg & 0.9 bpg, despite only being 17 years at the time.
- Elliot Emwionkpa – The Academy Prep:
- The former player from Antwerp who has already 2 seasons of TDM1 basketball experience under his belt made the move to the States this off-season as he joined The Academy Prep in hopes of drawing the attention of some colleges. Emwionkpa has also played 2 EuroBasket Tournaments with the Belgian U16 National Team averaging a total of 7.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.5 apg & 1.2 spg in 13 total games.
- Jayden Hodge – St. Rose HS:
- The biggest name to watch in US High School for us Belgians is undoubtedly Jayden Hodge. Son of Odell Hodge and younger brother of Matthew Hodge, the basketball genes clearly run strong in the family. Jayden joined St. Rose High School in 2022 and along with his brother Matthew led them to 2 consecutive Championship titles. Although he still has 2 more years of High School to go Hodge has already garnered plenty of attention from mid- to major colleges and a reunion with his brother at Villanova is definitely a possibility. Jayden has already competed in 3 EuroBasket Tournaments for the Belgian National (Youth) Team, including this past summer as he averaged 15.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.7 spg & 0.9 bpg with the U18 team, helping them to a 7th place in the final standings in the A-Division.
This rounds up my overview of the Belgian youngsters who will be competing in the several school competitions in the USA. If you know of any other Belgian youngsters who will be playing in a US school this season, please let us know in the comments.