Southern Idaho’s Deng Dut earns Division I scholarship
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Every kid that grew up playing basketball had a dream to play Division I college basketball.
For some kids that dream comes true directly out of high school and they get a full scholarship to the school they had been imagining all those years growing up. For others, like Deng Dut, it did not come so easy and he had to work for it.
Dut grew up in Melbourne, Australia and came all the way to the United States to pursue his dream of playing basketball. However, he didn’t have much interest from colleges to play high level basketball in the United States, but came anyway. He enrolled in the College of Southern Idaho to play for the Golden Eagles, a community college. Twin Falls, Idaho is a long way and very different from Melbourne, Australia but Dut made the best out of it.
In his freshman season he impressively led the Scenic West Athletic Conference in field goal percentage as a guard. Not something very common for the guard position. He also averaged over eight points per game and nearly five assists per game despite only starting two games all year in his freshman season. Dut had a strong freshman season but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted more.
In his sophomore year at the College of Southern Idaho he was on a mission to get coaches attention across the nation. Dut improved on almost all of his averages his second year increasing his points per game average to almost 15 and averaging over five assists and rebounds per game as well. He also led the SWAC in three point field goal percentage which is an extremely sought after stat in basketball in this day and age. This was enough to get him a first team All-American selection.
His time at community college had ended and big time Division I schools had taken notice such as the University of Georgia and St. John’s. Dut originally had committed to play for Portland University but changed his commitment after a coaching change there.
He ultimately decided to commit to the University of Wyoming, a Division I school. The University of Wyoming is expecting big things from the transfer.
“[UW coach Jeff Linder and I] spoke about it during recruiting,” Dut told Wyoming News. “He told me what he expects of his guards, and showed me things, places he puts his guards. I’m definitely up for the challenge. It’s going to be fun.”
Dut had big things on his mind and didn’t want to go to a huge Division I school that didn’t believe in him and couldn’t improve his game. He said about his decision to go to Wyoming to Wyoming News, “My decision to come here is pretty straightforward. Everything was just the right fit for me in terms of style of play and coaches. Their coaching staff and style of play suits my game,” Dut said. “This was the best opportunity for me to get better.” Coming in as a junior, Dut is ready to play right away and he will look to make the most out of his time in Division I come this season.
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