Fort Lewis College men’s basketball forward Chuol Deng wasn’t dealt the best cards to end his previous stop at Division I Oakland University. He kept getting hurt and he wasn’t there mentally with a lot of personal stuff going on back home. So Deng did the smart thing a card player does when they have a bad hand: fold their cards and wait for the next hand.
Deng left Oakland and took a year off from college basketball. He was mentally drained from the injuries and knew he couldn’t give Oakland the best version of Chuol.
Fast forward to the 2024-2025 season, Deng is back in the game with a great set of cards at FLC. He’s healthy and is starring on the Skyhawks’ squad, averaging 12.6 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game and 1.5 blocks per game. FLC is 8-5 overall and has won its last three games largely due to Deng’s play.
“It was just always within,” Deng said about his quality play and better mental approach. “It was just getting out of your own way and not overthinking all the time; that's just all it was. Then just having more gratitude and just staying healthy.”
What wasn’t always within was Deng’s love and commitment to basketball. Born in Kenya before moving to the United States when he was five, Deng grew up in Utah and Seattle in a soccer household with his four brothers. He played center-back and left wing-back. Deng also played football and played wide receiver, safety and quarterback.
He was introduced to basketball by his father, William and his uncle, Evric Grey. His father played some college basketball and his uncle played at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1990-1993, in the NBA and overseas.
Deng didn’t start playing organized basketball until his freshman year of high school when he played for his uncle’s AAU team. He quit playing soccer and football his junior year of high school and really started focusing on basketball during his senior season.
“When I started quitting other sports and putting more focus into basketball, I saw that process of how much I'd gotten better over three months,” Deng said. “I thought, ‘If I worked this hard for three months and I've gotten this far, how would it look if I worked this hard every day?’ So it was the process of the development, just enjoying that process and putting in my 10,000 hours every day. Being in the gym was what brought me so much more peace.”
Even though he wasn’t taking basketball very seriously during his sophomore year, college coaches noticed Deng’s work ethic, rebounding and defensive abilities. He thought it was wonderful that they were interested in him but he still wasn’t in love with the game. He was still a kid trying to enjoy his life. But as college coaches continued to call, Deng realized he could be great at the sport and could be a pro.
Deng’s college recruitment was definitely helped by attending The Skills Factory in Atlanta for his senior year. He played with numerous Division I talents and played against prep school powerhouses like IMG Academy and Montverde Academy. Deng said it was a reality check for him at The Skills Factory and he realized he wasn’t as good as he once thought.
Once COVID-19 hit, Deng’s recruitment was hurt since recruiters couldn’t come out and see him play and college players were granted another year of eligibility, decreasing the number of roster spots available. His grades also struggled during COVID and he had to go to Colorado Northwestern Community College for his freshman year in 2020-2021. He then transferred to Hill College in Texas for his sophomore year before getting his Division I chance at Oakland University in Michigan in 2022-2023.
Oakland is coached by Greg Kampe, who is the longest-tenured coach in Division I and has been the Oakland head coach since 1984.
“To go to a coach who's done it double the years of my lifetime, who wouldn't want to play for him,” Deng said about Kampe. “He has the secret sauce to developing as a player and being a good person, which he is. He's a really good coach but a lot of unfortunate things happened. But I'm very thankful that I went there because I wouldn't know the things that I know now and wouldn't have learned to be a better player.”
During his year off, Deng worked on his mobility and strength in the weight room. He also worked out with NBA legend Jamal Crawford in Seattle. Deng and Crawford had some mutual connections in Seattle; Deng said he learned how to be in the gym every day, perfect his craft and gain knowledge from Crawford.
After leaving Oakland and taking a year off, Deng was connected to FLC because his best friend knows associate head coach James Jansen. Deng appreciated how he was given the truth from Jansen and that he wasn’t being told the same thing every other coach was.
Now at FLC, Deng says it’s the first team he’s been on where everyone is a great person and everyone cares about each other. He enjoys FLC head coach Jordan Mast’s competitiveness and willingness to do whatever the players are doing in practice.
With his family’s unwavering support of his dreams, Deng wants to be a pro basketball player after his college career. After that’s done, he wants to use his Health Sciences degree to be a physician assistant and open up a clinic to treat people who are less fortunate.
Before his professional career begins, Deng has some goals for himself and the Skyhawks that would make his family and his mentor, Crawford, proud.
“It's always about how you finish,” Deng said. “My goals really never change. I want to be able to help this team win. I want to average a double-double and be the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
