IOWA CITY, Iowa — Another Hawkeye is headed to Paris this summer. Former University of Iowa basketball player and Valley High School alum Peter Jok qualified for South Sudan's 2024 Olympic basketball team.
Jok played in Iowa City from 2013 through 2017. The 6'6" wing finished his collegiate career ranked 15th in Iowa career scoring and fourth in 3-point shots made, according to his bio. In 125 games, Jok averaged 12.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game.
Born in the Sudan, Jok played high school basketball at Des Moines Roosevelt for two years before playing his final two seasons at Valley.
Jok went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft, and has bounced between teams ever since. He began his professional athletic career with the Northern Arizona Suns, and later played overseas for three seasons.
Most recently, Jok played for NBA G League team Sioux Falls Skyforce for the 2023-2024 season and has since been signed by the Ottawa Blackjacks.
South Sudan is the only men's basketball team from Africa to qualify for the Olympics. The achievement comes a little more than a decade after South Sudan gained independence, and about seven years after the country's national team played its first official game.
South Sudan will play its first game at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28.