Douglas College was recently given an incredible gift by the sports gods: Bol Kong. The 6’7 Kong, who plays guard for the Douglas College Royals, is quite possible the top basketball prospect in all of Canada. The only reason that he isn’t plying his trade with such schools as Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, or Florida, is because he has been unfairly denied a visa into the United States.

Kong is a citizen of the African nation of Sudan, but has lived in Canada since the age of seven on landed immigrant status. He has applied for a student visa on three separate occasions so he can play for a high profile college or university in the U.S. Unfortunately, he’s been denied all three times. He’s playing for Douglas in order to stay sharp until he can obtain his visa. One possible reason is that Sudan is on the U.S. list of top-ten terrorist nations.

However, even in dark times, good things can shine through. Douglas is now privy to watching a fantastic player with a classic jump-shot, a tremendous drive, and a wicked shooting ability. He’s been contacted by almost too many schools to count, and the Boston Celtics have expressed interest in him since he graduated from St. Georges in Vancouver two years ago. He’s drawn considerable interest from over 200 U.S. prep schools, colleges and universities. He sat out last season, hoping that his unjust visa troubles would get resolved.

In the meantime, he’s ripping it up for Douglas, and has drawn rave reviews from coaches and scouts that have seen him dominate games against Canadian and NCAA opponents alike.

No matter how his future turns out, and odds are it will be a very promising one, Douglas students can count themselves lucky that we had the privilege of watching such a superb player.