JL Bourg gets ยซย a speed demonย ยป with Ricky Lindo
June 30, 2025
Lilian Bordron
Both Gach, Finnish champion and South Sudanese international, signs with JL Bourg
Betclic ELITE - Both Gach, the South Sudanese international shooting guard who played for Darussafaka Istanbul, joins JL Bourg. This is the club's second signing of the day after Ricardo Lindo Jr.
Photo Credit : FIBA
Both Gach, a 6โ7โณ wing who plays internationally for South Sudan, will wear the colors of Bourg for the 2025-2026 season. After a successful season in Turkey with Darussafaka Istanbul, the former University of Utah and Minnesota NCAA player comes to strengthen Bourgโs wing position.
๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ ๐๐!
๐ฟ Committed defender, Both has high-level physical attributes, long limbs, impressive speed and mobility for his size, and complete technical skills.
๐ https://t.co/fPiKFBjSKI pic.twitter.com/Trqtc3vnNv
โ JL Bourg Basket (@JLBourgBasket) June 30, 2025
A complete and experienced profile despite his young age
Originally from Minnesota, home to one of the largest South Sudanese communities in the United States, Both Gach (26) has Cotonou player status thanks to his dual nationality and plays for the South Sudan national team, which made headlines at the 2023 World Cup and is expected at AfroBasket 2025 in Angola.
After playing for the Universities of Utah (2018-2020 then 2021-2022) and Minnesota (2020-2021), Both Gach turned pro in 2022. He started his European career with Pristina (Kosovo), before breaking out in Finland with BC Nokia, where he was crowned champion and Finals MVP in 2024, averaging over 21 points.
His performances opened the doors to Darussafaka Istanbul in the highly competitive Turkish first division. There, he proved his ability to adapt to high-level basketball with 11.1 points on 45.6% shooting (including 34.5% from 3-point range), 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in less than 26 minutes per game.
A versatile player to balance the lines
JL Bourgโs staff, through Franรงois Lamy, explains their choice: ยซย We werenโt looking for a go-to guy in this position, but rather a complementary player to try to find a good balance.ย ยป With his athletic qualities, long limbs and defensive intensity, Both Gach fits into a balanced collective strategy alongside other producers like Darius, Adam and Adrian.
Gachโs arrival completes the recruitment for perimeter positions at JL Bourg. He will join the team at the end of August, once AfroBasket is finished, along with Assemian Moularรฉ and Kevin Kokila, who are also involved in the continental competition with Ivory Coast and Angola respectively.
ยซย He is competitive, works tremendously hard, and has a complete offensive arsenal, without any obvious specialty, but without any penalizing weaknesses,ย ยป adds Franรงois Lamy.
A solid and formative NCAA career
Before proving himself in Europe, Both Gach had a quality NCAA career. At Utah, he distinguished himself in his first season and then recorded a historic triple-double in 2019 against Mississippi Valley State (12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists). After transferring to his home stateโs University of Minnesota, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in the 2020-2021 season, before returning to Utah to complete his college career. Three years later, after gradually rising through the European ranks, he has signed with JL Bourg, a team positioned in the second tier for the EuroCup draw.
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