Duke’s Deng Fights Hype

When it comes to putting college basketball’s Final Four in the proper perspective, Luol Deng has an advantage over most participants. Duke’s star freshman has lost family members to the years of civil strife that have killed and displaced millions in his native Sudan.

So although he enjoys this March Madness business, Deng finds it odd that fans work themselves into a lather over office pools -- or that anyone would care what a college student has to say about sports.

“Here I am being interviewed for playing well or having a good season while there’s a kid in a situation I could have been in where I [would] have to fight or save lives,” he said. “There’s kids out there that are working a lot harder than I am and doing even bigger things, but they’re not getting any attention.”

That is a level-headed approach, but one that is being tested by the hype leading up to Saturday’s game between Duke and Connecticut in a national semifinal at the sold-out Alamodome in San Antonio.

“I kind of do,” Deng said when asked if he was routinely downgrading the importance of sports, “but my passion for the game and how much I want to win kind of takes all that away. “When you’re giving everything and you just want to win so bad, I mean, it’s a life-or-death situation ... but in a different way.”

What’s certain is that Deng is unlikely to be intimidated.

Although he left Sudan when he was 4, he has known more harrowing times.

His father, Aldo, was a member of Sudan’s parliament as minister of transportation before being jailed for four months, resulting in the family’s subsequent move to Egypt.

Aldo has made it a point to remind his nine children -- Luol is the second-youngest among four boys and five girls -- that some of the opportunities afforded them are possible because of others’ sacrifices back home.

Deng’s father, who made sure that his children had learned three languages -- Dinka, Arabic and English -- attends law school in London and still makes clandestine trips to Sudan to visit family.

“Luol’s upbringing really defines what kind of person he is,” Duke guard Daniel Ewing said. “It’s [shown] in how he plays his game ... he’s so versatile, he’s really a team player.”

Deng learned basketball from his older brothers, who were introduced to the sport by former NBA player Manute Bol when the family was residing in Alexandria, Egypt. Bol, a countryman and fellow Dinka tribe member, was conducting humanitarian work for the Sudanese.

Deng was 8 when his father gained political asylum from England and moved the family to London. His first love was soccer, but he also idolized his brother, Ajou, who moved to the United States and attended prep school in Connecticut before playing at UConn -- he was a redshirt when the Huskies beat Duke in the 1999 national championship game -- and later at Fairfield (Conn.) University.

Deng gave up the pitch for the court and soon was playing on England’s youth national basketball team.

He was good enough at 14 that he and sister Arek came to the United States to attend prep school at Blair Academy in New Jersey.

At Blair, Deng grew to 6 feet 8, 220 pounds, and learned to pattern his game after Grant Hill, another Duke forward. Last season, he was widely considered the nation’s No. 2 high school player -- behind LeBron James.

He has lived up to his reputation. Deng had 21 points and eight rebounds in his college debut against Detroit. In the NCAA tournament, he is averaging a team-high 18 points on 56.8% shooting and grabbing an average of 6.3 rebounds.

“He’s a very unique player,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He has learned to use his versatility and developed his versatility, not just offensively, but defensively, being able to guard a number of different people.”

Krzyzewski also said Deng’s off-the-court mien had impressed him -- and was reminiscent of other former Blue Devil stars.

“They possess very unique skills and qualities as people and as players, and they are so happy and grateful to be with you and learn from you,” Krzyzewski said.

“And what they don’t realize is that ... once they leave you, we will be the ones who will say how grateful and how appreciative we were for having the opportunity to be with them,” he said.

“It’s the humility that he has and it comes from his family that will make him superb when it’s all said and done. He’s not there yet, but he’s on the way to becoming that.”

Deng showed his mettle in Duke’s comeback victory against Xavier in the Atlanta Regional final, a regional in which he was chosen most outstanding player.

In the locker room at halftime and the Blue Devils down by two points, a tearful Deng implored his teammates to take control of the game. Then, late in the game, he showed them how, knocking down a game-tying three-pointer, getting a rebound and finding J.J. Redick at the top of the arc for a tie-breaking three-pointer, and getting a back-breaking tip-in basket over Xavier’s Justin Doellman to seal the game.

“That tip-in,” senior point guard Chris Duhon said, “was one of the greatest plays we’ve had all year.”

To Deng, it was business as usual. Asked to describe the strongest part of his game, he said matter-of-factly, “My ability. I learned to play inside and outside. I started at point guard, playing on the perimeter.”

Indeed, his all-around game has drawn comparisons to another well-rounded wing player who led his team to a national title as a freshman. Carmelo Anthony took Syracuse to the top last spring before becoming a top NBA draft choice.

But with a national championship still in sight, Deng said it was too early to talk about bolting the hallowed halls of Duke for the riches of the NBA. But he has thought of testing the waters.

Not everything has gone perfectly in Deng’s first year of college. Early in February, The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, shocked the campus with a racially insensitive analogy in an article that compared Deng’s physical attributes to that of an orangutan.

The paper apologized. But it clearly remains a sore subject with Deng, who says only that it’s in the past.

The decision on whether to stay at Duke or turn pro “is going to come from me and my family,” he said. “My game, I have a lot to learn, a lot I can add to my game. I don’t want to take my game to the next level and just sit.”

Besides, he believes that the connections that he makes at Duke before signing a professional contract may help him realize loftier aspirations -- ones pertaining to a homeland he knows only through hazy memories and stark stories of pain and suffering.

“If I was to be put in Sudan, I wouldn’t know my way around,” he said. “I’m very lucky to be in this situation I’m in.”