Emmanuel Malou

Malou was born in Kenya to a Sudanese father and Ethiopian mother.[1] He moved with his parents and two siblings to the Australian city of Melbourne, Victoria, in 1996.[1] Malou did not initially like basketball but it became the focal point of his life when he had a growth spurt to 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) during his early teenage years.[1]

In 2010, Malou convinced his parents to allow him to move to the United States so he could attend St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Connecticut, for its basketball program.[1] He returned to Australia after the conclusion of the school year and suffered a knee injury while attempting a dunk that sidelined him for months.[1] Malou did not return to St. Thomas More and instead stayed in Australia while attending Box Hill Senior Secondary College.[1]

Malou was convinced by American former basketball player Glendon Alexander to join his ABCD Basketball Academy in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2012.[1] Malou lived in a motel room with other participants despite the program being portrayed as an elite basketball preparatory; Malou persevered because he was "so desperate".[1] Alexander persuaded Malou to enter the 2013 NBA draft but Malou withdrew his name when he suffered a severe ankle injury.[1] Malou returned to ABCD for a second season and lived in a shared house with teammates where they suffered from food shortages, power outages and no hot water.[1] Malou played with ABCD as they travelled across the country in a van to play games.[1] He earned the attention of Fred Hoiberg, the head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones, but ABCD did not offer academic work towards a high school diploma and Malou would not have been eligible to play in NCAA Division I.[1] He left ABCD to return to Australia in 2014.[1]

Malou signed with the College of Southern Idaho in 2014 but was ruled ineligible by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).[1] Southern Idaho recommended Malou to the California-based Yuba College, which operated separately from the NJCAA and allowed Malou to play.[1] California junior colleges do not provide athletic scholarships so Malou and his family covered tuition, rent, food and all other payments while he was attending Yuba.[1]

Malou averaged 14.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks during the 2014–15 season.[1] He was visited by National Basketball Association (NBA) scouts and received attention from several Division I programs before he announced his intentions to join the Iowa State Cyclones in September 2015.[2][3] Malou transferred to Des Moines Area Community College to focus on his academics and did not play basketball during the 2015–16 season.[2][4][5]

Malou declared for the 2016 NBA draft after initially entering as a backup plan if the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ruled him ineligible to play for the Cyclones.[6] The issues stemmed from Malou's time at ABCD Basketball Academy.[2]

Malou was not selected in the 2016 NBA draft.[7] He suffered a ruptured cyst in his knee and missed the 2016 NBA Summer League.[7]

Malou played two games for the Estonian team Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ in 2018.[8]

On 11 April 2019, Malou signed with the Albury Wodonga Bandits of NBL1 as an injury replacement for Mitch Newton.[9] On 13 March 2020, Malou signed with the Mackay Meteors of NBL1 North before the 2020 NBL1 season was cancelled.[10][11] On 7 January 2021, he signed a one-year deal with Sanat Mes Rafsanjan in Iran.[12] Malou returned to play for the Mackay Meteors during the 2021 season.[13]

On 28 July 2021, Malou signed with the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2021–22 season.[13]

Malou has played for the South Sudanese men's basketball team.[13]

• NBL profile
• NBL1 North profile
• IBL profile