He speaks three languages, he survived the Sudanese Civil War and the 15-and-under English national soccer team recruited him when he was just 13 years of age. He also plays a little basketball.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Luol Deng. Considered by most college basketball analysts to be the No. 1 incoming freshman in America, Deng hardly needed an unusual talent in the sport to make his life story interesting. Deng was born in the Sudan on April 16, 1985 to Martha and Aldo Deng, who served as Sudan's Minister of Transportation in Luol's youth. Unfortunately for the Dengs, Sudan has been engaged in an on-again-off-again civil war between the rural southern Christians and the northern Muslims since the end of British colonial rule on Jan. 1, 1956.
After a bloodless coup on Jan. 30, 1989, the National Islamic Front came to power in Africa's largest country, leaving the Dengs and others in grave danger. The new government decided to provide open visas to some of the world's most dangerous terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.
"My dad realized the danger early when he was Minister of Transportation," Deng said. "When the government was overthrown, he knew what was going on in the country. So the first thing he did was move his family to Egypt."
It was in Egypt where Luol first began to play basketball. A member of the Dinka tribe--a group that consistently produces some of the world's tallest people--Deng always had a natural talent for basketball, but he had no one to instruct him on the fundamentals of the game. Then a certain 7-foot-6 NBA player who also is a Dinka and a Sudanese exile visited Egypt.
"Manute Bol came back, he was on a holiday," Deng said. "He saw my brother playing around, just playing pick-up; nothing was organized. We didn't know the rules. We'd get the ball and just play. Then Manute came and he was kind of like 'Hey, slow down. I'll teach you guys how to play.' He taught us fundamentals. He went through drills."
Deng's time in Egypt proved to be short, however, as the United Kingdom granted his father political asylum. Moving from the Sudan to Egypt was easy for Deng--the two countries are very similar and both speak Arabic as an official language--but going from Egypt to England proved difficult for the germinating hoops sensation.
"I moved to England and after a month I had to learn a new language," Deng said. "I had to go to school after three or four weeks [after my arrival]. I didn't know a word of English. I think making friends was the toughest part."
While adapting to the British culture proved difficult, Deng had no trouble finding success in athletics. After showing significant promise in both soccer and basketball, Deng decided to concentrate his efforts on hoops. Staggering results soon followed.
He averaged 40 points per game in the European Junior Men's Qualifying Tournament in Portugal, and led the normally mediocre England squad to a second-place finish in the European Junior National Tournament in Poland while averaging 34 points per game.
But things were just too easy for Deng in England, and through the urging of his British basketball coach, he decided to attend boarding school at the prestigious Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. The move, again, was another very difficult adjustment.
"The first month I was here, I was just so homesick," Deng said. "I went to my high school coach, and I just told him that I didn't think I can do it."
Through the persuading of Blair Academy head coach Joe Mantegna, Deng tried to persevere. Once basketball season started, he felt comfortable again, easily adjusting to the American style of play.
Patterning himself after his hero, former Blue Devil Grant Hill, Deng used his versatility to average over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game from his sophomore year through senior season. Deng was named a McDonald's All-American and the Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year in 2003.
The forward's transition to Duke has thus far been smoother than some of his other moves, as he says he is already very comfortable in Durham.
"I'm a freshman, but I think the way that I handle myself because of the stuff I've seen in my past has made me mature a little earlier," Deng said.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has had nothing but positive things to say about the team's lone freshman on scholarship.
"Luol's going to be one of our best players, not only on our team but in the conference and in the country," Krzyzewski said. "He's that good a ball player. His problem will be not trying to do too much because he's one of those kids that works too hard at times."
So far other ACC coaches have had very little to say about Deng, but it seems it will not be this way for long.
"I don't comment on other players," Maryland head coach Gary Williams said. "He's got to play somebody on our team, too."
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