What next for Wainright with the Silverbacks?

It is not commonplace that Ugandan and the NBA are mentioned in the same conversation but that will change soon with the Silverbacks forward Ishmail Wainright joining the Toronto Raptors on a two-year deal.

The 26-year-old is expected to team up with Uganda on August 19 after the Summer League and will be the first piece on George Galanopoulos’ team as they look to improve their place at the Afrobasket.

Wainwright has only played four times for the Silverbacks and has recorded an average of 18.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and five assists. His highlight performance came in the first window of the qualifiers as he poured in 36 points and collected 13 rebounds in Uganda’s victory over Cape Verde in November last year.

His move to the NBA, however, is likely to come with tough decisions for the American-born naturalised Ugandan forward. Contractual obligations and commitments in Toronto will certainly come ahead of suiting up for Uganda.

“While he was in France, he was available to us whenever his club contractual obligations allowed,” Silverbacks team manager Albert Ahabwe said after the move came to the limelight.

“He will be there for Uganda whenever his NBA schedule allows,” he added.

Wainright was recruited because the Silverbacks couldn’t have Brandon Davis. After the big man’s exploits with the team in the 2019 Zone V Afrocan Qualifiers in Kampala, he joined Liga ACB side Barcelona and was tied down with the club as Uganda negotiated the Afrobasket Qualifiers.

A’darius Pegeus and Jordin Mayes are the other naturalised players Uganda has relied on in the recent past but Davis and Wainwright are the two whose unavailability might be tagged to serious contractual business with their professional clubs.

What next?
Should Wainwright join Davis on the absentee list, the Silverbacks will have to search for more talent across the world to supplement what is already available. And indeed, the team manager will be ready to make phone calls and find the most suitable replacement.

“Every country is allowed one naturalised player so we’ll go out there and look for a player of great character who fits what we lack,” Ahabwe said.

The team’s steady progress in the last few years has interested several Ugandans playing in the Diaspora and some are already taking their chances.

Adam Seiko is expected to join the team for the Afrobasket finals later this month while his younger brother Arthur Kaluma already announced his arrival with a monster performance against Morocco in the last qualifiers.
The two are born to Ugandan parents and both seen as big prospects for the NBA in the near future.

FIBA rule

‘A player who has competed in an official Fiba competition after reaching age 17 is tied to that country. Those who played for one country before turning 17 may play for a different country if both countries’ federations agree.’

A sneak peek into Wainright’s career

Wainright is one of the players Ahabwe, the national teams’ manager and scout, approached and convinced to switch and play for Uganda.

Wainright is from Kansas City and attended basketball powerhouse prep high school Montrose Christian in Maryland. He was the 60th-ranked player in the ESPN Top 100 for the class of 2013. The 6-foot-5 forward with a 7-foot-1 wingspan chose Baylor University over offers from schools like St. John’s, Texas and Ohio State.

Wainright spent four years Baylor and while he struggled to impress offensively, his defensive impact allowed him to appear in over 30 games every year in college. After four seasons of basketball, Wainright chose to play one season of football at Baylor as a tight end for a high-major Division-I program.

Wainright joined the Buffalo Bills and only played one season before returning to basketball. On his return to the basketball court, Wainright spent two seasons playing professional basketball in Germany.

He averaged 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Nuremberg Falcons BC of the lower Bundesliga before signing with SC Rasta Vechta of the Bundesliga.

There, he averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds and earned a deal with SIG Strasbourg of the France LNB Pro A.
In the past season with SIG Strasbourg, Wainright averaged 11.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game for the French outfit.

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