The most highly touted freshman in the country since he walked onto Duke's campus, Luol Deng has been the subject of numerous comparisons to NBA stars. The freshman sensation was initially compared to LeBron James, the Ohio product who was the only high school senior in the country rated higher than Deng. As the season progressed, Deng was likened to Carmelo Anthony, the similarly multi-talented freshman who led Syracuse to the NCAA title in 2003.
Most recently, the Londoner has been earning comparisons to Grant Hill, the former Blue Devil star whose play most resembles Deng's. All of these comparisons are complementary to Deng, giving him credit as the most talented freshman in the nation, a player with nearly unlimited potential.
The freshman's first season has been a progression which has established him as one of the Blue Devils' most dependable scoring options, bringing him closer with every game to the success of the stars he takes after.
Deng scored 41 points in his first two games as a Blue Devil, dropping 21 and grabbing eight rebounds in the season opener against Detroit. But the freshman's coming-out party did not last long, and as conference play became the focus of the season, Deng became just another weapon in a Duke arsenal of threats. He was an effective player, but often seemed to be a supporting actor, taking pressure off of the perimeter shooting of J.J. Redick, the robust inside play of Shelden Williams and the interior-exterior threats of Daniel Ewing and Chris Duhon. This was not the star quality that so many had predicted, but for much of the season his individual highs and lows were overshadowed by the success of the Blue Devils as a team. The high caliber of Duke's other players also allowed Deng to develop as a non-scorer: the freshman was clambering for more rebounds and throwing more precise passes as the season went on.
"It's why I came to college: to develop," Deng said. "It makes me realize that I needed a lot of development, and going into the season one of the guys said it helps them out a lot because we needed that [time to develop]." Deng's dual status as a potential superstar who still makes freshman mistakes was highlighted in the last two games of the regular season when Deng had his most disappointing and most thrilling performances in quick succession. In a home loss to Georgia Tech, Deng was unable to get in a rhythm, going 1-for-14 as the Blue Devils could not get enough offense together to best the hustling Yellow Jackets. Deng looked less like a college basketball phenom than a young man unable to fulfill high expectations. In the next game, Deng turned it all around in the most emotional game of the season and reminded all who saw Duke's 70-65 victory over North Carolina why he was so well-regarded. He went 12-for-16 from the floor, scoring in the paint with such clockwork efficiency and grace that it was hard to tell one basket from the next when watching highlights. Deng logged 25 points and led the Blue Devils to an emotional victory. "And by the way, Deng is a freshman; I think people keep forgetting that," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the North Carolina game. "The same freshman that was 1-of-14 [against Georgia Tech]. He gave one of the great performances in a Duke-Carolina game tonight: to go 12-of-16 and to respond after that type of game the way he did is just phenomenal. He's 18 years old. For him to do that sets him apart." Deng continued to play steadily in the ACC Tournament, averaging 15 points through three games and pulling down 16 rebounds in the tournament's finale. As Duke prepares for what it hopes will be an extended run in the NCAA Tournament, it is going to look to Deng for the sort of consistent and protean play that he has exhibited so far this season. "I think he'll hopefully be able to build on what he's been doing; I think he's going to continue to get better," Krzyzewski said. "As he's shown, he's gotten better every week, and I don't think there is going to be anything different about the tournament." The NCAA Tournament is where a college player's reputation is often forged or broken. Both Hill and Anthony earned their accolades by being the last man standing in the tourney. If Deng can continue his improvement into the later rounds of March Madness, he will not need any more comparisons; he will have earned his own renown.
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