FARGO — Marial Deng has already been with UND football for several weeks.
“It’s like a brotherhood up there,” he said.
With the Lions All-Star series on Deng’s schedule, the coaching staff let him take a short break. Though he’s all-in on football now, the Four Winds alum was selected to the A/B All-Star basketball team. He joined the squad for a week of practice and activities, culminating in games against the AA team Wednesday and Thursday.
The A/B squad included familiar foes like Grafton’s Brody Lillemoen and Wahpeton’s Brayden Steffens. The coaches were Beulah’s Brandon Schirado and Ray’s Michael Bergstrom.
“It’s amazing being with all the other stars, even Double-A,” Deng said. “All these guys I was always versing since like freshman year, guarding them. Now it’s pretty good to play with them, and it’s higher competition.”
Deng is now football teammates with his older brother, Deng Deng, who played in the Lions All-Star series himself two years ago. The two briefly discussed what to expect over Fourth of July break.
If Deng was going to do this, though, he wanted to give it his all.
“[The mindset]’s definitely to have fun, but then I like to compete, so I was definitely coming over here trying to go 2-0,” he said.
The A/B All-Stars lost Wednesday in Bismarck, 110-85.
But they concluded the series — and for Deng, his basketball career — with a gutsy 97-93 win at Fargo South High School, requiring a second-half comeback after trailing by as many as 11.
“Schirado just said, [Wednesday] we kind of got kicked,” Deng said. “The first half we were chipping away a little bit, and he was just like, ‘Stay with them. Stay with them.’ And then as soon as it hit like three minutes, and we were down by three, [Schirado] was like, ‘This is where we want them.’”
The first half had 10 lead changes. Deng was one of the starters, but it wasn’t until he went to the bench that his team exploded for a 10-0 run to take its first lead.
Upon reentering, Deng made a layup for his first points, putting the A/B team ahead 22-20.
He made his biggest mark with about 30 seconds left in the half. Down 48-46, Deng landed a go-ahead triple. The AA team scored the last points of the half, though, to go into the locker room with a slim 50-49 lead.
Deng scored six points in the first half and seven overall.
While the first half had the makings of an instant classic, the second half appeared to belong mostly to the AA team. West Fargo Horace’s Carter Evanson made four triples in a 21-point night, and Artie Carlow had 17 points. The AA boys came out of halftime quicker than the A/B squad did.
But Deng had a steal that helped chip the deficit back into single-digit territory. He may have only had one point of his own in the second half, but it was an important one, tying it at 85-85. It was part of an 8-0 run, with Steffens giving A/B the lead.
The AA team got go-ahead threes from Evanson and West Fargo’s Aiden Samek down the stretch. But Beulah’s Braylen Schirado, who won a state championship a few months ago, scored 10 second-half points, including a basket that tied it at 93-93. Shiloh Christian’s Carson Quam made two key free throws, and the A/B team sealed the deal by getting a turnover with 4.1 seconds left.
Central McLean’s Aiden Hanson led A/B with 16 points. Grafton’s Reggie Rice had 13.
Deng’s basketball career ended the same way his older brother’s did: with smiles, laughs and a victory over the AA team.
He leaves high school behind having been an all-state football player and the Region 2 Senior Athlete of the Year in basketball. He led Four Winds/Minnewaukan to state this past winter.
“I think I did very good in my high school career,” Deng said. “Looking back at it, it’s just a lot of accomplishments, some goals checked off. Just a lot of things. So it was pretty cool. I feel like it was a great high school career.”
While Deng appreciates his time on the basketball court, he has no regrets of picking football.
“I know I’m gonna miss [basketball] in like a couple months, but I know I love football and just love being better at that,” Deng said. “The game-day vibes for football is just amazing. But I know I will miss basketball once in a while.”
Deng joins a UND football program that has high expectations. The Fighting Hawks should be right in the mix of the top teams in the FCS.
“I feel like with our quarterback and our offense and defense, the people that’s coming back, I feel like UND could be natty champs if we work hard,” Deng said.
The question is: With both Dengs being wide receivers, can Marial challenge his older brother for a spot?
“That’s a hard challenge right there,” Marial said. “But I’m for sure gonna go to every practice, compete every lift. Go 100%. I’m definitely just gonna put my head down and go work.”