Deng Angok Deng (born 5 January 1992) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who last played for the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). He also plays for the South Sudan national team. Deng played three seasons of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

in the United States, two with

Lee College Lee College is a public community college in Baytown, Texas. Lee College's main campus occupies near downtown Baytown and extension campuses throughout its service area. The school has an enrollment of over 7,773 total students as of Fall 2018. ...

and one with Baylor. He has played professionally in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

, Qatar, Lebanon, Finland, Poland and Australia. He debuted in the NBL in 2018 with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

. He played for the Illawarra Hawks in 2020–21 and then the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

in 2021–22.

Early life

Deng was born in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. He moved to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

at age four and then

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at age nine. He is of

South Sudanese South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a population of around million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the communit ...

descent. He attended

Box Hill Senior Secondary College Box Hill Senior Secondary College (BHSSC) is a state-run co-educational senior secondary school located in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. The senior school has a three-year curriculum, composed of years ten - twelve. Year 9 are offered at the Mi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

College career

In 2012, Deng moved to the United States to attend

. As freshman in 2012–13, he helped Lee to the school's first ever

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Region 14 championship and qualified for the National Championship tournament with a 25–11 record. He was selected to the Region 14 All-Tournament team. As a sophomore in 2013–14, he averaged 19.8 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He led Lee to a 20–12 record, earning NJCAA second-team All-Region 14 and first-team All-South Zone honours. He scored in double figures in 27 of 28 games before suffering an injury on 26 February. In May 2014, Deng signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to play for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...

. As a junior in 2014–15, he played 23 games for Baylor and averaged 2.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.8 minutes. In August 2015, Deng was ruled ineligible to play college basketball in 2015–16 due to his age. Despite his ineligibility, Baylor still honoured his scholarship so that he could complete his graduation requirements.

Professional career

On 25 February 2016, Deng was acquired by the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado 14 ...

of the

. In 16 games to finish the 2015–16 season, he averaged 2.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. In October 2016, Deng re-joined the Texas Legends. He left after appearing in three games to start the 2016–17 season. In February 2017, he played five games in Qatar for Al Shamal Doha. The following month, he played four games in Lebanon for

Tadamon Zouk Tadamon Zouk ( ar, التضامن الزوق) is a Lebanese sports club most known for its basketball program. It is located in Zouk Mikael, Kesrouan, Lebanon. Tadamon Zouk basketball team is part of the Lebanese Basketball League. It was part ...

. For the 2017–18 season, Deng moved to Finland to play for

Korihait Korihait ( en, Basket Sharks) is a Finnish basketball team from Uusikaupunki. It was formed as Uudenkaupungin Urheilijat, shortly UU, in 1898 and has won one Korisliiga Finnish Championship (1990) and two Finnish Cups (1986, 1988). In 1994 UU had f ...

. He played eight games between 26 September and 27 October. In March 2018, he returned to Lebanon and played seven games for Louaize. In May 2018, Deng returned to Melbourne and joined the McKinnon Cougars for the rest of the

Big V Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

season. In 11 games, he averaged 16.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. Following the Big V season, Deng joined the

for the

2018–19 NBL season The 2018–19 NBL season was the 41st season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams have contested the league. The regular season had been played between October 2018 and February 2019, followed ...

. In 19 games for the Kings, he averaged 2.2 points per game. On 22 March 2019, he signed with Polish team MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza. In 10 games to finish the PLK season, he averaged 12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. In October 2019, Deng joined the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

as an injury replacement for Rob Loe. He did not play in a game during the

2019–20 NBL season The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. Teams Nine teams competed in the 2019–20 Season with the addition of South East Melbourne Phoenix. Off-season changes *The ...

. On 16 July 2020, Deng signed with the

for the

2020–21 NBL season The 2020–21 NBL season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of nine teams contested in the 2020–21 season. The regular season was played between January and June 2021, followed by a p ...

. In 39 games, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He then played for the Kilsyth Cobras during the 2021

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a NBL1 conference based in South East Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create NBL1 to replace the South East Australi ...

season. On 10 July 2021, Deng signed with the

for the

2021–22 NBL season The 2021–22 NBL season was the 44th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams are contesting in the 2021–22 season, which commenced on 3 December 2021. Australian broadcast rights to the ...

. He then returned to the Cobras for the 2022 NBL1 South season. On 1 June 2022, Deng signed with the Illawarra Hawks for the

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

, returning to the team for a second stint.

National team career

In July 2015, Deng played for the Australian University National Team at the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

in South Korea. In seven games, he averaged 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. In February 2023, Deng played for the South Sudan national team, and helped the country qualify for their first-ever

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

after sealing their spot in the last qualifying round.

References

External links

NBL profileBaylor Bears college bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Deng 1992 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in Poland Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian men's basketball players Australian people of South Sudanese descent Basketball players from Melbourne Baylor Bears men's basketball players Brisbane Bullets players Illawarra Hawks players MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza (basketball) players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople of South Sudanese descent Sydney Kings players Texas Legends players