The Deng household will now have two Division I athletes.
Marial Deng, who’s wrapping up his junior year at Four Winds High School, announced his commitment last week to play football for the University of North Dakota. It’s a lifelong goal now realized for the 6-foot-5 wide receiver from Tokio, North Dakota.
“Very excited,” he said. “It’s always been a dream to play D-I sports.”
Like Deng Deng, his older brother, M. Deng opted to pursue football at the next level despite also being a talented basketball player. Starting in the 2026-27 school year — while D. Deng is in his second year of eligibility — both Dengs will suit up in Fighting Hawks green.
“Those two guys are really, really special athletes,” Four Winds football coach Travis Mertens said. “They’re special human beings. They’re special students. They’re special members of the community.”
Mertens, a former UND athlete himself, has coached the newest Hawk since the young Deng was in middle school. Originally a Devils Lake native, Mertens is the only Mr. Basketball winner in Devils Lake history besides Grant Nelson. His own path involved pursuing basketball over football at the college level. He’s now a co-head football coach, assistant varsity basketball coach and principal for Four Winds High School.
During Deng’s seventh-grade year, Mertens was coaching the Four Winds basketball C squad when they added Deng to the group.
“I compared him to a baby deer,” Mertens said. “He looked like Bambi out there sometimes with his skinny, skinny legs. And kind of still figuring out his body; he was never really uncoordinated, but you could just tell he was still kind of figuring it out. He was growing so fast that he kind of had to grow into his arms and his legs.”
Deng’s first varsity football action came as an eighth-grader. The game was a blowout, and Deng made a two-point conversion catch upon entering.
“You could just see how natural it was for Marial,” Mertens said.
That’s the thing Mertens emphasized about Deng: how easily it’s always come to him, especially on the basketball court, as a tall, lanky and athletic kid. It could be hard for Mertens to even tell how hard he was working sometimes because it looked so effortless.
“You’re like, ‘Marial, are you gonna go?’ And he’s like, ‘I am!’” Mertens said. “And it’s just so smooth. So seeing that, you kind of realize if he just really hones in, dedicates himself to everything, he’s gonna be a really special talent.”
Despite his older brother taking off to a new level last year as a senior, Mertens said it’s the younger Deng who probably has more “God-given ability.”
By D. Deng’s senior year, he became a more explosive player after bulking up in the weight room over the offseason. He had a dominant football season and won Mr. Basketball. M. Deng, while tall at 6-foot-5 and still growing, is skinny compared to his brother.
“Who knows? He could grow another inch,” Mertens said. “He’s gonna put weight on, just looking at his frame, as long as he keeps lifting and eating the right way.”
Until this school year, Deng didn’t know which sport he would pursue at the next level. If anything, he was leaning towards basketball.
“He’s probably a more gifted basketball player,” Mertens said. “I wasn’t sure if he would want to do the basketball route. I know he loves the game still, and that’s always something he’s gonna love.”
Deng made up his mind this fall, when he started to come into his own as a football player. Now an upperclassman, he averaged 60.3 yards per game. He led Four Winds to a 5-3 season, which included the program’s first ever home playoff game.
Deng said his leadership improved, and that he became a stronger and better athlete. He credited Mertens and co-head coach Mark Bishop — who played football for Valley City State University — as well.
“They helped me a lot,” Deng said. “They always told me about my potential, and I just kept working, trying to fulfill that.”
Mertens recalled a play in the Indians’ game against Hatton/Northwood where they threw Deng a hitch, and he ended up taking it 50 yards downfield. Even in the playoff loss against Cavalier, Deng grabbed a high pass while covered by three defenders to get the first down. Moments like these began to reveal his true potential.
“He’s got such long, smooth strides that he just slowly kind of pulls away from the defenders once he gets it going,” Mertens said. “I think he’s one of the better contested jump-ball guys that we’ve had.”
Mertens, with his UND connections from the past, helped get Deng’s name out there — as he does with any athlete he thinks has a chance to play at the college level.
“I think we have really, really talented athletes out here that are good — boys and girls — that can play at that next level,” Mertens said. “So when I see a player that I think can play at that next level, I’m gonna go out and I’m gonna recruit, and I’m gonna let these coaches know. I’m willing to make those phone calls and use some of the connections I’ve developed as a coach, or as a former player myself, to let them know. I want to give them that opportunity.”
After football season, UND assistant coach Keaton Wilkerson visited Four Winds to talk to Deng. The realization for Deng on how good he could be at football set in, especially as other schools started calling and recruiting. The potential, to him, seemed greater in football than in basketball.
Like D. Deng already did, M. Deng hopes to grow into his frame and fill out, in order to become even better. It was the UND staff who helped him solidify that belief in himself.
“The way they recruited him and his brother — and I know it’s a different staff now — but just the consistency and the relationship-building, I think it went a long way with those two,” Mertens said.
Deng stayed in touch with Wilkerson and the UND coaching staff, now led by Eric Schmidt, all through the winter and early spring. On April 25, he announced he’d received an offer. On May 6, he revealed his commitment.
“Their new coaching staff, and how they run the program now, it’s just different,” Deng said. “So it’s something I want to be a part of.”
Deng has an advantage, too, with his older brother having already spent a year there. He’ll have his own personal football mentor before he ever steps foot on campus.
“He’s been telling me some stuff about what he did when he was there,” M. Deng said. “So yeah, I think that would be a lot of help… I think that would be exciting, playing at a higher level with him.”
D. Deng made two receptions for 14 yards in his redshirt season this fall. He’ll likely have an increased role next season, playing in his first full year of eligibility while M. Deng plays his senior year of high school.
Mertens said he still tries to text D. Deng after every game. He lets him know he’s proud of him.
“[Deng]’s representing himself and the community. Everybody’s pulling for him. And he’s doing a great job there,” Mertens said. “And Marial is gonna be the same way. They’re too good of people to not have success.”
For all of the younger kids coming up, the Dengs provide an example. Whether it’s for UND, or for smaller schools like United Tribes Technical College and Lake Region State College, M. Deng is just the latest proof of how kids from the reservation can become collegiate athletes if they work hard and set their minds to it.
“It’s nice to see that they’re looking at their education past high school. They’re wanting to get that education, that college education and continue to do something with their lives,” Mertens said. “So you’re always just, as a coach or a principal, a teacher, you just want your kids to be the best people that they can be, and contribute to society and do what’s right.”
It’s particularly indicative of the football program’s growth, Mertens said, as Four Winds has historically been a more basketball-centric school. The Four Winds/Minnewaukan boys’ teams had years of success in Class B, which included two state titles, before the implementation of the three-class system. While they missed out on state each of the last two years in Class A, they’ve put together a combined record of 33-15.
In football, they didn’t win a single game from 2012 through 2017. They’ve now had a .500 record or better in six of the last seven seasons.
When kids come back to visit after graduating, they still call Mertens “Coach.” He sees them working out in the weight room after their high school careers are over. Years ago, Mertens said, the school’s athletes didn’t have that same level of dedication.
“We wouldn’t be competing as well as we are if we didn’t have guys that were in the weight room,” Mertens said. “And it especially helped with football. You can see that we’re not the laughingstock of the league, or we’re not the bottom of the barrel. We’re competing. And teams have to prepare for us now, [different] than it was probably 10, 11 years ago.”
This fall, after losing senior quarterback Kashton Keja Jr., Mertens’ gridiron squad will rely on Deng more than ever. They’re hoping his continued progression will result in even more team success. Deng said he wants to help the program win a playoff game for the first time ever.
“With a guy like that, you just want to get the ball in his hands and let him make a play,” Mertens said. “[We] give ourselves the best opportunity to win when you give your best player the ball. So we’re hoping that with that, and a couple other guys, we’ll be able to kind of continue to build off the success we’ve had the last couple years.”
Deng also wants to make it to the Class A state basketball tournament, he said. Then, in the offseason, he’ll be working out at Belquist Speed and Acceleration in New Rockford. The facility is run by Elliott Belquist, dad of former UND wide receiver Bo Belquist and current coach of New Rockford-Sheyenne’s football, girls’ basketball and track and field teams.
Four Winds combines with NR-S for track and field, so Deng has gotten to work with Belquist for the last two years.
“It’s great,” Deng said of Belquist’s mentorship. “He always gives you tips on how to improve.”
While Deng might never be quite as muscular as his older brother, he still has time to progress. He’s slightly young for his grade at 16 years old, turning 17 over the summer. It was the same with D. Deng, who’s still 18 after one season of college football.
But Marial is already as tall as Deng, and he’s not done yet.
“I was always wondering how tall he was gonna get, because you knew he was gonna grow, grow, grow,” Mertens said. “And he could end up being 6-6 by the end of next year. He’s just a young, still-developing man.”
In addition to filling out his frame, Deng will need to continue building his consistency on the field to succeed at the D-I level. While he’s found success in high school, it’ll be a different world of size and strength when he gets to Grand Forks next year.
“Probably their physicality and the speed of the game,” Deng said of his expected challenges. “They’re gonna be a lot stronger, bigger, faster.”
But now it’s go-time for Deng. He’s seen his brother do it, and he’ll have him by his side every step of the way.
When he puts on a helmet for the first time inside the Alerus Center, it’ll be a childhood dream come to life.
“When I get called, just try to make an impact,” Deng said. “And then yeah, just keep producing.”
