Atem Kuol Atem


Atem Kuol Atem Bol is a South Sudanese basketball player who last played for the Shepparton Gators of the Big V Division One.

Early life

Atem was born in Bor, South Sudan. He and his family spent four years in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya before moving to Sydney, Australia, where he was introduced to basketball by his high school teacher. He started to take the sport seriously when he was offered a scholarship to Illawarra Sports High School in Wollongong, and from there he earned a scholarship to Northern Oklahoma College in the United States. Atem was on the 2012–13 roster at North Oklahoma College, but he was forced to redshirt the season, which made him re-think his commitment and ultimately led to him deciding not to return to the program for the 2013–14 season.

Career in the Australian state leagues

Atem made his Australian state league debut in 2014, playing a handful of games for the Ipswich Force in the Queensland Basketball League. He spent the majority of the year with the Force's Southern Basketball League affiliate team and was named the MVP of the SBL team.
For the 2014–15 NBL season, Atem was a member of the Adelaide 36ers' development program. He participated in the team's preseason exhibition matches. He remained in South Australia for the 2015 Premier League season, where he played for the Eastern Mavericks. He continued on with the 36ers for the 2015–16 NBL season as a member of the team's training squad.
In November 2015, Atem signed with the North-West Tasmania Thunder for the 2016 SEABL season. In 20 games for the Thunder, he averaged 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
On 31 October 2016, Atem signed with the Goldfields Giants for the 2017 State Basketball League season. In 23 games for the Giants, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
In December 2017, Atem signed with the North Adelaide Rockets for the 2018 season, returning to the Premier League for a second stint. In 18 games, he averaged 13.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
In March 2019, Atem signed with the Shepparton Gators of the Big V Division One. In 27 games, he averaged 19.37 points, 9.89 rebounds and 1.11 assists per game.

National team

In March 2017, Atem played for the South Sudanese national team at the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 qualifiers. In four games, he averaged 9.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.