Deng Gak has only been at Blair (N.J.) Academy for about a week, and yet already the big-time schools are passing through to check the big man out.
Duke assistant Jon Scheyer, Florida assistant Darris Nichols, SMU head coach Larry Brown and Northwestern head man Chris Collins have stopped in to see Gak, a 6-foot-11 big man who was born in Egypt but lived almost his entire life in Australia. Minnesota is expected in Friday.
“Deng is a very skilled and versatile big who proceses the game at a high level and has already at age 17 played on the global stage,” Blair coach Joe Mantegna said. “He is one of the highest-upside guys we have ever had at Blair. As importantly, he is a high-character, good teammate who comes from an academically-oriented family as well. The sky is the limit as he gets stronger, more assertive, and adjusts to the different way the game is played in the U.S.”
Mantegna previously coached current Miami Heat wing Luol Deng at Blair, and both Deng and Gak are of Dinka descent.
“A contact in Australia brought him to my attention,” Mantegna said of Gak. “We connected this summer when Luol and I were in Australia running clinics.”
Gak chose Blair in part because of the Deng connection.
“I’ve spoken to [Luol Deng] heaps about his time at Blair,” Gak told Australian writer Olgun Uluc. “It’s huge because he’s also Sudanese, so he’s pretty much been through the same stuff I’ve been through, and am currently going through. He’s definitely somebody I look up to.”
Gak played on the Australian U19 team this summer, averaging 4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.7 blocks as a starter when the team finished seventh at the FIBA U19 World Championship.
This season, Blair will play St. Anthony’s, St. Patrick, St. Benedict’s and Hudson Catholic, among others, giving Gak plenty of opportunities to showcase himself against other elite Division 1 prospects. St. Anthony’s, St. Pat’s and Roselle Catholic have 24 players with Division 1 offers between them, including several other Sudanese or African players, like 6-10 Daniel Mading of St. Anthony’s.
