Majok Deng

Majok Machar Deng (born 1 March 1993) is a Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League (NBL). After winning back-to-back Central ABL championships with the Forestville Eagles, Deng moved to the United States in 2012 to attend college, where he first played for Indian Hills Community College. In 2014, he transferred to Louisiana–Monroe where he played two seasons of Division I college basketball for the Warhawks and led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring and blocks as a senior.

Early life and career

Deng was born in Bor, Sudan on 1 March 1993, and spent the first seven to eight years of his life in the country.^[1] He moved to Australia in 2006 after spending a number of years living in a Kenyan refugee camp.^[2] Deng settled down in Adelaide^[3] with his mother and sister.^[2]

Deng originally dreamed of playing professional soccer, but a significant growth spurt of 11cm in 12 months changed his life, switching him from soccer to basketball.^[2] Deng took up basketball in 2009, and by 2010, he was playing division three under 18s basketball for Forestville. He credits his rapid development and quick rise to his under 18s coach, Scott Freer, who gave him specialist training over a two-year period. In December 2010, Deng had a try-out with the Forestville Eagles' Central ABL team and was successful in gaining a roster spot for the 2011 season.^[4] His Eagles teammate, former NBL player Rashad Tucker, took on a mentoring role for Deng during his rookie year. Tucker assisted in the development of Sudanese-born players.^[5] In September 2011, Deng helped the Eagles win the Central ABL grand final. The Eagles trailed Norwood by eight points with 87 seconds left in the third quarter, before Tucker and Deng inspired their team to 29 of the game's last 36 points. Deng entered the game with 1.34 remaining in the third, and immediately produced the sort of energy that had been lacking from his teammates for most of the night. Deng ended the night with 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, but his most significant stat was his team's 20-point advantage with him on the floor. The Eagles won the match 82–68.^[6] In 18 games for the Eagles in 2011, he averaged 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

Deng returned to the Forestville Eagles for the 2012 Central ABL season, where in 16 games, he averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.^[7] His final game for the Eagles came on 18 August 2012 in the Eagles' semi-final loss to the Sturt Sabres; he scored 13 points in the match.^[8] The Eagles went on to win the preliminary final without Deng, which advanced them to the grand final. In the grand final, they faced the Sturt Sabres, but this time got the better of the Sabres as they completed back-to-back titles with a come-from-behind 86–78 overtime victory.^[9][10]

College career

Indian Hills (2012–2014)

Recruited to play college basketball in the United States after impressing with 23 points for South Australia in its losing Australian Under-20 Championship grand final, Deng was earmarked for greatness by his coach at Forestville Eagles, Andy Simons.^[2] Deng enrolled at Indian Hills Community College and joined the Warriors men's basketball program. As a freshman in 2012–13, Deng played in 27 games and was one of the first players used off the bench by coach Barret Peery. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.^[11] Deng's highlight moment of the season came when he drilled three three-pointers in overtime to help Indian Hills topple Southeastern 104–99.^[12]

On 7 November 2013, Deng was named the recipient of the Arnold Black Memorial Scholarship. It is awarded to a sophomore member of the Warriors who best exemplifies the strong competitive spirit shown by Black and exhibits his love for the game of basketball.^[11] As a sophomore in 2013–14, Deng averaged 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. In his sophomore campaign, Deng's top offensive performance came when he scored 16 points in a 132–84 victory over John Wood Community College.^[12] He guided the program to a 34–3 record in 2013–14 and a combined 60–7 record in his two years. He also led Indian Hills to the 2014 Regional and District Championships.^[13]

Louisiana–Monroe (2014–2016)

On 22 April 2014, Deng signed a National Letter of Intent to play Division I college basketball for Louisiana–Monroe.^[14]

As a junior at Louisiana–Monroe in 2014–15, Deng played in all 38 games and made 37 starts. He recorded eight double-doubles, 25 double-figure scoring games and a pair of 20-plus scoring outings. He averaged 10.7 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game on the year. He also led the team in blocked shots with 1.3 per game, ranking third in the league. He subsequently earned third-team All-Sun Belt Conference, All-Louisiana first team, and College Sports Madness All-SBC second team honours.^[13] In the CBI Tournament semi-final on 25 March 2015, Deng scored a season-high 22 points in a 71–65 win over Vermont. The Warhawks went on to lose the CBI Championship Series with a 2–0 defeat to Loyola.^[15]

As a senior in 2015–16, Deng was the Sun Belt Conference scoring champion, averaging 19.0 points per game in league play. He also finished first in the conference in blocks (1.9 bpg), third in minutes (37.5 mpg) and offensive rebounds (5.3 orpg), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.421), sixth in three-pointers per game (2.3 3pg), seventh in rebounding (6.9 rpg) and eighth in free throw percentage (.793). He netted a trio of 30-plus scoring performances and 11 20-plus games. He won seven weekly awards including CollegeInsider.com National Mid-Major Player of the Week (December 7), Louisiana Player of the Week (December 21), College Sports Madness Player of the Week (January 25), SBC Student-Athlete of the Week (February 15), Louisiana Player of the Week (February 15), CSM Player of the Week (February 15) and SBC Student-Athlete of the Week (March 7).^[13] Overall, Deng averaged 18.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocks in 31 games (all starts). On 21 January 2016, he tied his career high of 33 points against Troy, having previously scored 33 points a month earlier against Central Baptist.^[16] At the season's end, he earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference, Sun Belt All-Tournament Team, NABC All-District 24 first team, and All-Louisiana first team.^[13]

College statistics

Professional career

Adelaide 36ers (2016–present)

On 17 May 2016, Deng signed a three-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League.^[17] Later that month, he received an invite to work out with the Minnesota Timberwolves,^[18] and later played one game for the Timberwolves' Summer League team in Las Vegas.^[19]

On 7 October 2016, Deng made his debut for the 36ers in their season opener against the Illawarra Hawks. In 16½ minutes off the bench, he recorded 13 points and six rebounds in a 122–88 loss.^[20]

References

External links

• Majok Deng at ulmwarhawks.com
• Majok Deng at washingtonpost.com