Jilson Bango

Jilson Luis Antonio Bango (born 6 January 1999) is an Angolan professional basketball player for Zaragoza of the Liga ACB. He also represents the Angolan national team in international competition. Standing at , he plays at the power forward or the center position.

Professional career Early career He started his career with Marinha de Guerra, which club is attached to the Angolan Navy and an affiliate of Primeiro de Agosto. In 2019, Bango started playing for Primeiro de Agosto. He was named the Angolan Basketball League's Regular Season MVP for two consecutive seasons (2021 and 2022). Bango also led the league in rebounding in 2021.

On 3 October, he recorded 16 points and 9 rebounds in his league debut against Würzburg. In 2022–23 Basketball Bundesliga, he averaged 9.4 pts and 6.5 rbs in 24 games and in 2023–24 Basketball Bundesliga, he averaged 13.5 pts and 7.1 rbs in 34 games.

Zaragoza On 25 May 2024, Bango signed with Basket Zaragoza of the Spanish Liga ACB.

On 4 November 2024, Bango received a Hoops Agents Player of the Week award for Round 6, he had 21 points and 10 rebounds. In 2024–25 Liga ACB, Bango averaged 13.9 pts and 5.6 rbs with 16.1 pir in 19 games played. He also averaged 14.3 pts and 5.8 rbs in 9 games played in 2024–25 FIBA Europe Cup.

Fenerbahçe On 3 February 2025, Fenerbahçe announced that he had joined the club until the end of the 2026–27 season.

On 6 February 2025, he made his EuroLeague debut against Real Madrid in a 78–67 victory. On 6 March 2025, he recorded 8 points and 5 rebounds with 11 PIR in his third EuroLeague match against Olimpia Milano.

On 29 April 2025, he helped Fenerbahçe sweep Paris Basketball as 3–0 in playoffs, contributing 6 points and 3 rebounds successful first quarter performance in 88–98 away wictory.

On 25 May 2025, he was a member of Fenerbahçe squad, which won their second EuroLeague championship in Abu Dhabi.

National team career Internationally, Bango respresents the Angola national basketball team. He played with Angola at FIBA AfroCan 2019 and FIBA AfroBasket 2021, where he averaged 9.6 pts and 9.6 rbs as the team's starting center.

In FIBA World Cup 2023, he averaged 9.4 pts 7.4 rbs.

On 21 August 2025, he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee in the 2025 AfroBasket quarterfinal match against Cape Verde and will expected to be out for about seven months. He recorded 6.3 pts, 5.3 rbs and 0.5 assist performance at the tournament. 2022 Angolan League Best Rebounder: 2021