Luol Deng owes debt to former NBA player Manut Bol

SPORTS: Deng owes a debt to Bol

By MARC NARDUCCI

CHICAGO, Jun 22 (Philadelphia Inquirer) - Luol Deng concedes that he might not be in his current position if not for former Philadelphia 76er Manute Bol.

Deng, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Duke University, has entered Thursday's NBA draft and could be selected as high as No. 3 by Chicago. He isn't expected to drop below No. 5, where Washington picks, after having averaged 15.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in his only college season.

Like the 7-7 Bol, who played for the Sixers from 1990 to 1994, Deng is a native of Sudan and a member of the Dinka tribe. His father, Aldo, served in the Sudanese parliament and became the country's minister of transportation before moving to Egypt to get away from Sudan's civil war. While in Egypt, he met Bol, who introduced Luol Deng's older brothers to basketball.

"Manute Bol taught my brothers how to play the game," Luol Deng said after this month's NBA pre-draft camp. "At the time, I was very young, but my brothers taught me the game, and it all started from Manute."

In 1993, Deng's father was granted political asylum in England, and the family moved there. Deng, one of nine children, will turn 20 next April. He lived in England before coming to the United States as a high school freshman in 1999, attending Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. His family still resides in England.

As a senior at Blair, Deng was a McDonald's all-American and was ranked in many quarters as the second-best high school player in the nation, behind only LeBron James. He said that his experiences at Blair, both on and off the court, speeded up his development.

"I was in a boarding school since I was 14 and was away from home and had to take care of myself," he said. "I kind of matured quickly, and that helped me a lot."

Deng has apparently helped himself in workouts with NBA teams. He has had workouts with the teams slated to select No. 2 through No. 5 in the draft - the Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago, Charlotte and Washington. He believes that those workouts have silenced some fears about his athletic ability.

"At Duke, people didn't see me on the perimeter, so that is where questions come, and there will always be questions," he said. "I feel I have shown I have the quickness to play and that it will only get better."

Like all young players, Deng is a work in progress.

"Luol has very long arms, and he has the work ethic to be successful in this league," said Billy King, the Sixers' president and general manager. "He still has a ways to go, but he is willing to work at it."

Deng's intangibles apparently have impressed a lot of NBA people.

"His character, maturity and work ethic are incredible, and that is what the NBA teams have really liked," said Leon Rose, Deng's agent, a Cherry Hill East graduate whose clients also include Allen Iverson of the Sixers and Rip Hamilton of the NBA champion Detroit Pistons.

King says Deng is a deceptive player.

"When you don't think he can get things done, he figures it out, and it's because he plays so hard," King said.

Deng said that it doesn't matter to him which team drafts him, that he is just excited to be about to begin the next phase of his life. To think that it all started with Bol's teaching his brothers.

"Maybe I wouldn't be playing the game today if Manute hadn't taught my brothers," Deng said. "I am really grateful for all he did."

.Ride On Deng. We are all waiting to see you in the NBA next season