Sac State basketball player reflects on his South Sudan roots
SACRAMENTO -- Kiir Kiir Chol Deng's constant in life has been basketball.
Each dribble tells a story, carrying thousands of miles with it.
South Sudan is over eight thousand miles from Sacramento, but the freshman keeps it close to his heart.
"I have a flag in my room," he says. "Something that I look at every day to remind me where I'm from."
At an early age, Kiir had to leave home to chase educational opportunities in Uganda. At that point in time, he was chasing a soccer dream. And then the growth spurt happened.
"In about grade seventh grade, I grew five inches. So I grew up so tall everyone said you have to stop playing soccer and start playing basketball," said Kiir.
While playing basketball in Uganda, he was discovered at a camp. A coach with the NBA Global Academy identified him as a potential fit, and soon enough, he was on the move again. Before his 15th birthday, Kiir lived in his third country and was now over three thousand miles from home.
"My mom wasn't really happy because I was about to leave home at the early age of 14, but my dad talked her into it," he recalls.
Kiir is an example of the Global Academy system working. With hubs in Senegal, Australia, India, and Mexico, to name a few, the goal is to identify elite talent worldwide to give them a pathway to collegiate or professional basketball. After a few seasons in West Africa, the next step of the journey became apparent.
"I was supposed to go to Australia, but Australia was locked down," says Kiir.
A 10 thousand-mile journey would have to be put on hold. The pandemic rerouted him another 9 thousand miles to Mexico to the NBA Global Academy hub. After a tough tournament outing, he questioned his future and all the years spent. "
"It wasn't the best of tournaments, he remembers. "I was down. I wasn't thinking right. I texted [former L.A. Laker and South Sudanese Coach Luol Deng] and asked could I come for the South Sudanese national team training camp, and he was like,' yeah,' and my mindset changed. That's why I look up to him."
At that moment, Deng realized he could be a college basketball player, and that's when a call came from Sacramento State. Eventually, Kiir made it to Australia, his fifth country, before age 18. His Academy coach in Australia, Marty Clarke, and Hornets basketball coach David Patrick have a long-standing relationship.
"Marty said, 'I got a guy that's a perfect fit for you,' and he mentions Kiir," says Patrick. "You can see he wants to be good, and that's what you want in your freshman that are hungry to play."
"Kiir fits the mold, just with his background, in terms of his approach to school, in terms of his approach to life and on the basketball floor made him a perfect fit for us."
Patrick sees greatness in the young South Sudanese forward, and Deng sees something greater than himself.
"The country's getting better, our basketball is getting better, the economy's getting better, so that's something to look at," he explains. "I have to make sure everything I do is something that people can look up to. Be a role model to the next generation."