[11] On 9 January 2016, it was announced by the South Sudan Basketball Federation that Jerry Steele would become the new head coach of the men's national team for preparation of the 2017 AfroBasket competition.

Coach Steele and the South Sudan Basketball Federation parted ways by mutual agreement on 3 October 2017.

On 7 November 2017, Scott Catt was appointed to be the new head coach of the men's national team by the South Sudan Basketball Federation.

In the round of 16, South Sudan beat Kenya, in the quarterfinals the team lost to defending champions Tunisia.

In the second round, again coached by Royal Ivey, they had another successful streak in order to qualify for South Sudan's first-ever World Cup in 2023.

[17] On August 28, South Sudan earned its first World Cup victory with a dominant win over China in Quezon City, Philippines.

[23] The Bright Stars lost their two following games to the United States[24] and Serbia, and thus did not advance past the preliminary stage.