Deng Ngor Making the Basketball Falcons Proud Across the Americas
By Michael Clarkson
Ding, Deng, Dunk!
Team USA may have nightmares about FEIA shooter Deng Ngor in the last minute of the AmeriCup Under-18 championship basketball game on June 7 in Mexico.
First off, with his Team Canada losing by three, Deng tied it up with a long-range shot, then he capped a 67-65 victory over the Americans with a slam dunk.
It was the first time Canada had won the cup over the best youth teams across the Americas.
“Deng has had some big games this season,” said FEIA associate coach Steve Houston, who held the same position for Team Canada. “He helped us take down the U.S.”
And the 6-foot-8 wingman is only in Grade 11 – slated to return to FEIA next September as perhaps the premier player for his age in Canada, who helped the Falcons win the Ontario championship this past season.
“When I was young, my dream was to come to FEIA,” he says. “This year was my favourite team ever. It was a family feeling with the coaches, and you could trust your team-mates.”
Deng’s parents fled their native South Sudan to escape a 2018 civil war and then came to Peace River, Alta., where Deng was born.
He played at Calgary’s Edge Prep, where he developed his game and was recruited for FEIA in 2024-25 by Charles Hantoumakos, who was his national head coach for Canada’s victory on June 7. Charles is now at Orangeville Prep.
Deng was MVP when his Alberta team won the 2025 U-17 nationals. “I felt I was the best player (for his age) in the country at that time,” he said.
In 2024-25, Deng did a reasonable job defending superstar A. J. Dybantsa (projected to be the NBA’s No. 1 pick this spring) as the Falcons defeated Utah Prep twice.
Ngor has had many offers from Division I NCAA universities and will make his selection “depending on the coach, and how much they care about you. But basketball is a business and you have to make the best decision for you.”
Deng, who has spent three hours each day in the FEIA gym or in its weight room, also plays AAU in the U.S. with many of his Falcons’ team-mates, including Junior Jean Marie, Pierre Charles Yimga, Jakob Wolker and Totu Akuentok.
He believes the Falcons are one of the top 10 basketball franchises in North America.
Ngor understands his importance to the team. “My role is bigger than ever and I’ll play with the same grit I always have.”
Among his role models is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, two-time MVP of the NBA, from Hamilton. “For Canadians, Shai showed us that anything is possible, and it’s now the same for all of us,” Deng said.
His second cousin, rim-protecting forward Athian Madut, has committed to the Falcons for this coming season after transferring from Western Canada Prep.
