Belgian Student/Athletes in the USA (2024-’25): Preview

Much like each year we will now again give you guys an overview of all the Belgian Student/Athletes who are pursuing their American Dream and will be competing in the several school championships in the USA this year.

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NCAA:

• Stéphan Dibongue Swenson – UC Santa Barbara:

  • After 4 seasons at Stetson, Stéphan Dibongue Swenson has transferred to UCSB where he will replace Ajay Mitchell as the starting Point Guard. Coming off a senior season in which he averaged 13.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.8 apg & 1.5 spg for Stetson, Dibongue graduated as their all-time assist leader with 603 assists. As a graduate student Dibongue is now looking to finish off his college career at UCSB, undoubtedly hoping he will be able to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Ajay Mitchell and make it to the NBA.

• Aubin Gateretse – Utah State:

  • In his third season at Stetson – alongside Dibongue Swenson – Aubin Gateretse really came into his own, getting himself in the starting line-up and upping his stats to very solid averages of 11.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg & 1.5 bpg throughout the season. His strong play in the A-Sun tournament earned him a spot in the All-Tournament team. For his senior year Gateretse has now made the move to Utah State where he will attempt to continue his steady progression.

• Matthew Hodge – Villanova:

  • After appearing in 4 games for Mons-Hainaut in the BNXT League in the 2021-’22 season, Matthew Hodge moved to the States to join St. Rose High School (coached by Brian Lynch) in 2022. Along with his younger brother Jayden, Hodge helped St. Rose to 2 consecutive championship titles. As a senior at St. Rose Hodge averaged 17.0 ppg & 6.7 rpg. His play garnered attention from several colleges but he eventually settled on Villanova, coincidentally (or not) the same school where his coach Brian Lynch has played in the late ’90’s. At TIB we will be watching closely to see how Hodge lifts his game to this next level.

• Allen Mukeba

NCAA2:

• Alan Dibongue Swenson – Lake Erie:

  • The older Brother of Stéphan Dibongue, Alan Dibongue Swenson will enter his 6th year in The States as he joined Lake Erie this past off-season. Previously Dibongue competed for Northwest (3 years) and Miles (1 year), before joining Notre Dame Falcons last year, but unfortunately he did not play. This year Dibongue is looking to bounce back as a graduate student at Lake Erie. Just like his brother Dibongue is a point-guard pur-sang with excellent court-vision. In his 4 year college career so far he has averaged 5.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.4 apg & 1.3 spg.

• Reumang Emagna – Lincoln:

  • Emagna started his American journey back in 2018 when he enrolled at Tri-City Christian High School. After graduation he then joined Cuesta Community College where he played 2 years, averaging a total of 5.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg & 1.3 apg in 41 games played. Last year he then briefly returned to Belgium where he competed in the Regional 1 Championship. This year Emagna is back across the Atlantic as he enrolled at Lincoln University.

• Matthieu Biembongo – Lincoln:

  • Joining Emagna at Lincoln is Brussels native, 6’11” Forward Matthieu Biembongo who will start his collegiate career after attending Victory Rock Prep last year. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any more information on his background so it’ll be a nice discovery to see what Biembongo can bring to the table.

• Hugo Mattioli – Florida Southern:

NCAA3:

• Dante De Moor – Colby-Sawyer:
  • A former player from Ronse-Kluisbergen, Waregem and then followed by the Elite Academy in Antwerp, De Moor moved to the States in 2022 where he joined Combine Academy. The following year he then joined Lee Academy and this past off-season the combo-guard enrolled at Colby-Sawyer where he will now start his collegiate career.

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NAIA:

• Romain Bruwier – Huntington:
  • The former player from Liège Basket is now in his 2nd season in the States where he competes at Huntington. Last year the Forward averaged 4.2 ppg & 2.3 rpg in 12.4 mpg. Undoubtedly Bruwier will be looking to up those numbers in his senior year and he’s definitely off to a good start as in the season-opener – a win against East-West – he finished with 14 pts & 8 rebs in 25 minutes of action.

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NJCAA:

• Elijah Tshibangu – Murray State:

  • The former player from United Basket Woluwe, Brussels Basket and Royal IV Brussels has made the move to the States this off-season as he enrolled at Murray State. With already 3 seasons of experience in the BNXT League with Brussels Basket under his belt I have no doubt that Tshibangu will have a big impact on the court for Murray State.

• Ethan Nsiona – Spoon River:

  • Nsiona got his early development at Spirou Charleroi before he made the move to the States in 2021 when he joined Combine Academy High School. Last year the youngster then enrolled at Middle Georgia Prep before now joining Spoon River Junior College to start his collegiate career. Nsiona is an explosive guard who has a knack for scoring.

• Logan Mukeba – Spoon River:

  • Joining Nsiona at Spoon River is Logan Mukeba, the younger brother of Allen Mukeba who I discussed earlier in this article. Mukeba went to the States in 2021 and has moved around quite a bit so far, going through Lee Academy, Missouri-Kansas City and Chadron State before now enrolling at Spoon River where he hopefully will get his first real action at the college level.

• Max Postiglione – UA Cossatot:

  • After 2 years at Northwest Max Postiglione has made the transfer to the University of Arkansas Cossatot as a sophomore this year. In his 2 years at Northwest Postiglione only played limited minutes in which he averaged 2.3 ppg & 1.1 rpg in 29 total games.

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High School / Prep:

• Augustine Ikolo – Southern Coast Academy:

  • The youngster from the Basket@Sea Academy in Oostende Ikolo has moved to Southern Coast Academy this off-season for his first experience in the States. He actually has a nice little vlog going on about his experiences so far, so if you want to check that out you can visit his Youtube site. His athleticism reminds me of Tom Mark, but Ikolo does have a lot more offensive weapons, so he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.

• Eric Dibami Tomou – Columbus HS:

  • Another former player from Oostende who moved to the States this year is Eric Dibami Tomou. The big man with Cameroonian roots joined Columbus High School and will be looking to make an impression to move up to college after graduation. Last year Dibami played in the French Espoirs (U21) league for Boulogne where he averaged 6.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg & 0.9 bpg, despite only being 17 years at the time.

• Elliot Emwionkpa – The Academy Prep:

  • The former player from Antwerp who has already 2 seasons of TDM1 basketball experience under his belt made the move to the States this off-season as he joined The Academy Prep in hopes of drawing the attention of some colleges. Emwionkpa has also played 2 EuroBasket Tournaments with the Belgian U16 National Team averaging a total of 7.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.5 apg & 1.2 spg in 13 total games.

• Jayden Hodge – St. Rose HS:

  • The biggest name to watch in US High School for us Belgians is undoubtedly Jayden Hodge. Son of Odell Hodge and younger brother of Matthew Hodge, the basketball genes clearly run strong in the family. Jayden joined St. Rose High School in 2022 and along with his brother Matthew led them to 2 consecutive Championship titles. Although he still has 2 more years of High School to go Hodge has already garnered plenty of attention from mid- to major colleges and a reunion with his brother at Villanova is definitely a possibility. Jayden has already competed in 3 EuroBasket Tournaments for the Belgian National (Youth) Team, including this past summer as he averaged 15.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.7 spg & 0.9 bpg with the U18 team, helping them to a 7th place in the final standings in the A-Division.

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This rounds up my overview of the Belgian youngsters who will be competing in the several school competitions in the USA. If you know of any other Belgian youngsters who will be playing in a US school this season, please let us know in the comments.