PORTLAND, Ore. – Incoming Portland men's basketball signee Deng Dut was recently named the Region 18 Tournament MVP after leading the College of Southern Idaho to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament. Dut finished with 31 points, six assists and five rebounds in a 94-84 regional final win against Salt Lake CC to help punch CSI's ticket to nationals.

The NJCAA nationals are scheduled for April 19-24 in Hutchinson, Kan. CSI earned an opening round bye and will play the winner of Indian River State and Dawson CC in the Round of 16.

Dut (6-4) signed with the Pilots in November and has had a monster season in leading the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles to a 21-3 overall record. He is averaging 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Dut has been extremely efficient in all three shooting categories. He is 52.3 percent from the field, 51.2 percent from three-point range (No. 9 nationally) and 84.1 percent at the free throw line.

The 31-point effort against Salt Lake CC was a career-high, but Dut has also posted games with scoring totals of 29, 28 and 27 points this season.
 
When Portland hired head coach Shantay Legans in March, Dut was familiar with the new Pilots coach.

"I had a few teammates back in Australia that played for Coach Legans," Dut said of his decision to stay committed to the Pilots. "I followed him and the Eastern Washington program closely, especially when they went to the tournament and played well against Kansas. I really liked how they played and wanted to see if he still wanted me to come to Portland.

"Coach Legans basically recruited me back and I really liked what he and his staff said. We've built a good relationship in a short amount of time and I'm excited to see that grow. Coach Legans kept it honest from the start and didn't just tell me what I wanted to hear, that stood out to me. Plus, I think Portland is such a great city and school for academics, I've always wanted to play in the West Coast Conference, so when you put all those factors together, deciding to stay with Portland made sense."

"We are excited to welcome Deng to Pilot family," first-year head coach Shantay Legans said. "He is versatile point guard with the ability to attack off the dribble, score in a variety of ways, and does a great job of getting others involved. He is extremely efficient with the ball on offense and defensively, Deng can guard any position on the perimeter."

The Melbourne, Australia native had a standout 2019-20 freshman season at CSI as he led the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and assist/turnover ratio.

He shot a remarkable 61 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range, both tops in the SWAC. Dut also led the league with a 2.7 assist/turnover ratio, while his 4.2 assists per game were second in the conference. He also averaged 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and recorded a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in just 24 minutes against Shoreline Community College on Nov. 22, 2019.

Dut previously attended Simonds Catholic College Prep in Melbourne, Australia. He played club basketball for the Collingwood All Stars and three times led his squad to the Gold Medal Victorian Championship. He was a Big V Youth League All-Star while averaging 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals per game as a senior.

After signing a National Letter of Intent with Portland in November, Dut will join the Pilots this summer and have three years of eligibility remaining.

"We can't wait to get Deng on campus," Legans added. "He has been well-coached throughout his entire career and it is nice to continue building relationships with players and programs from Australia."