Angolan Pride

Selton Miguel was down to five schools less than two weeks after entering the transfer portal in April. 

He chose the University of Maryland as his landing spot. However, a relationship with his close friend — Bruno Fernando — was a major reason behind his decision to travel from Tampa, Florida, to College Park. 

The pair are close friends because they grew up together and share commonalities. They played for the same basketball club and are both natives of Angola. Now, the two friends are fellow Terps teaming up for their native African nation in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They have an opportunity to share the court for the first time since moving to the U.S. 

“We've been talking for years about playing on the same team,” Miguel said. “Every year, there is always something about the national team. I never really had time because AAU was always in the summer when I got to high school, and when I got to college, I always had a really strong off-season where I didn't want to leave my team. This year was the best time for us to play with each other.”

The Olympic qualifying tournaments take place from July 2-7 in four countries. Angola will play in Spain, pooled with Croatia, Ivory Coast and the Philippines. Angola is currently the 34th-ranked team in FIBA’s world rankings.

Twenty-four national teams are competing in the tournament. The top teams will earn a spot in the 2024 Men's Summer Olympic Basketball Tournament in Paris, which will take place from July 27 to Aug. 10. If Angola qualifies, the country will search for its first medal in its sixth Olympic appearance and first since 2008.

Angola played at five consecutive Olympics from 1992-2008. Around that time, they dominated basketball in Africa, winning 10 of 11 FIBA AfroBaskets from 1989-2009.

The southwestern African country played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023 for the ninth time in the last ten FIBA flagship events, making its sixth appearance in a row. Angola was drawn into Group A in Manila and went through a transitional period, with most of its veterans replaced by youthful talent. 

Angola finished 26th at the World Cup last year and was one of the best 16 teams that didn’t advance directly to the Summer Olympics. Fernando was on that squad and posted averages of 11.2 points and 4.2 rebounds.

The transition to youthful talent remains the same in 2024. Miguel is the only college player and the youngest on the team. It’s also his first year with the national team after playing with the senior team at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2021. 

“We have the same coach from the first time I came for the qualifiers,” Miguel said. “It was my first time meeting the coach. He was getting to know me as a young freshman at Kansas State. But now it’s different. He's gotten familiar with my game and watched the past season I had.” 

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard started his college career at Kansas State, where he played from 2020-22. He then transferred to South Florida, where he spent the next two seasons. Miguel is the reigning American Athletic Conference (AAC) Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player. He was also selected to the All-AAC Second Team after posting averages of 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while appearing in all 33 games. 

The Bulls finished the 2023-24 season 25-8 overall and 16-2 in the AAC, their most league wins in program history. The guard chose Maryland over Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Villanova and West Virginia. He even committed to the Terps a day after his official visit, canceling each of his future visits. Miguel is a fifth-year senior for the Terps who will fulfill a vital role for head coach Kevin Willard’s squad this upcoming season.   

"Selton is a highly competitive player who can really impact the game on both sides of the court," Willard said. "He's another veteran player who can help us immediately and who has played in a lot of high-level games."

Miguel says his relationship with Fernando was one of the major factors in his decision to transfer to Maryland. Fernando often expressed the family environment and love surrounding Maryland’s basketball program in each other's conversations. 

“We were always talking, he’s been like a big brother, giving me advice and things like that since I was in high school,” Miguel said. “We just kept building that relationship. It just made sense for me to keep Bruno’s legacy at Maryland. I feel like everybody loves Bruno over there.” 

Fernando was the first Angolan-born player drafted into the NBA. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound center played for the Terps from 2017-19, posting averages of 12 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. 

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Fernando in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft before trading him to the Atlanta Hawks. He recently wrapped up his seventh NBA season with them. He has also played for the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics.

As a sophomore, the big man was named first-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Defensive team in 2019. He also recorded Big Ten All-Freshman team honors the year prior. Fernando ranks among the top 10 in several Maryland men’s basketball program records.

Before coming to College Park, Fernando won gold in 2016, representing Angola at the FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship in Rwanda. He was named to the all-tournament team.  

Fernando hopes to achieve similar success at the world level years later, where his lifelong friend will accompany him. Both basketball players take pride in representing their home country and the University of Maryland.

“It’s a dream come true to represent my country,” Miguel said. “Not just as an Angolan, but as a Terp. If you notice, Maryland and Angola have the same colors — black, red and yellow. I think everything just makes sense. I think it was just God's plan.”