Lat Nai Mayen Nai (born 16 August 1998) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

West Adelaide Bearcats West Adelaide Bearcats is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching West Adelaide Basketball Club (WABC), the major administrative basketball ...

of the

NBL1 Central NBL1 Central, formerly the Premier League, is a semi-professional basketball league in South Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball South Australia partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to ...

. He is also contracted with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for three different colleges between 2018 and 2022, finishing with a two-year stint with the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

. He began his professional career with the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

of the NBL in 2022.

Early life and career

Mayen was born in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

and grew up in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, where he attended Concordia College and graduated in 2016. He represented South Australia at the 2016 Australian Under 20 nationals and played club basketball with the Sturt Sabres. In 2016, Mayen debuted for the

BA Centre of Excellence The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Bruce, Can ...

in the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL). In nine games, he averaged 12.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He returned to the Centre of Excellence in 2017 and averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in eight SEABL games.

College career

Mayen moved to the United States to play

for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

. After redshirting the 2017–18 season, Mayen joined TCU for the 2018–19 season. He played in 17 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He averaged 2.1 points and 1.2 rebounds in 7.9 minutes played per game. For the 2019–20 season, Mayen joined

Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed sever ...

of the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states ...

(NJCAA). He helped the school to an 18–10 record and averaged 11.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He was subsequently named first-team All-

Panhandle Conference The Panhandle Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 8. The conference consists of four state colleges and one community college located in Florida. Members Member institutions are Chip ...

. For the 2020–21 season, Mayen joined the

. He was forced to play out of position at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

early in the season as Nebraska was without Derrick Walker and Eduardo Andre for the first six games of the year. He was one of two Huskers to start all 27 games and finished with averages of 8.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He averaged 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his final four games, which included a game with a career-high 25 points against

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

. He led led Nebraska with 48 made 3-pointers. In the 2021–22 season, Mayen battled a back injury early in the season but managed to start 31 games and averaged 5.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He had two double-digit scoring games in 2021–22, including a season-high 13 points against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

. Mayen had been touted as a sharp shooter upon joining the Huskers, but finished his career shooting 33% from 3-point range with 77 total 3-pointers. Despite having a year of eligibility remaining, Mayen decided to not return to Nebraska for the 2022–23 season to begin his professional career.

Professional career

In May 2022, Mayen joined the Cairns Marlins of the

NBL1 North NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

. In 15 games during the 2022 season, he averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. On 29 June 2022, Mayen signed a two-year deal with the

of the National Basketball League (NBL). In 16 games during the 2022–23 season, he averaged 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. In March 2023, Mayen joined the Bendigo Braves of the

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

. In 20 games during the 2023 season, he averaged 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds 2.25 assists per game. Mayen returned to the Taipans for the

2023–24 NBL season The 2023–24 NBL season was the 46th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2023–24 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the third seas ...

. In 27 games, he averaged 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Mayen joined the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as ...

for the

2024 New Zealand NBL season The 2024 NBL season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball League. The competition increased to 11 teams in 2024 with the Tauranga Whai joining the league for the first time. The 2024 season saw the return of a pre-season blitz for the ...

. He left the team mid season after making the final Olympic trial group for South Sudan. In 10 games, he averaged 15.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game. On 16 April 2024, Mayen signed with the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

for the

2024–25 NBL season The 2024–25 NBL season was the 47th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2024–25 season. The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are availa ...

. During his 36ers debut on 22 September, he recorded an NBL career-high 23 points in a loss to the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...

. Mayen joined the

of the

for the 2025 season. On 23 April 2025, Mayen signed a two-year deal with the

National team

In 2016, Mayen played for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at the FIBA Oceania U18 Championship. He also played for Australia at the 2016

Albert Schweitzer Tournament The DBB Albert Schweitzer Tournament (, abbreviated as AST), full name DBB Albert Schweitzer World Under-18 Tournament (), is an international basketball competition that is played between national teams of the Under-18 men's age category. It t ...

in Germany. Mayen was selected by the

South Sudan men's national basketball team The South Sudan men's national basketball team is the national basketball team representing South Sudan. It was established in May 2011, and became a member of FIBA in December 2013. They are nicknamed the Bright Stars. The most recently founde ...

in an extended squad in the lead up to the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Personal life

Mayen is a cousin of fellow basketball players, Yuat Alok and Kouat Noi.

References

External links

NBL profileNBL1 profileTCU Horned Frogs bioChipola College bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayen, Lat 1998 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players Australian expatriate basketball people in New Zealand Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian men's basketball players Australian people of South Sudanese descent Basketball players from Adelaide Cairns Taipans players Chipola Indians men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball players South Sudanese men's basketball players South Sudanese emigrants to Australia South Sudanese expatriate basketball people in the United States TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball players Wellington Saints players BA Centre of Excellence men's basketball players 21st-century Australian sportsmen