North Dakota State University junior basketball player Deng Geu is part of the Silverbacks team that is camped in Turkey, preparing for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Geu, who was born in Uganda but left the country in 2003, averaged 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Bison as a sophomore in the 2017-18 season.
He earned his first ever call up to the national team and has played four of the five exhibition games at the Molten Istanbul Cup.
“Coming here I didn’t know much about Fiba basketball but at practice we have got some really good players. I feel that this (National Team) program is going in a good direction and as we keep practicing and getting better, I think we can do some good things in the future,” Geu said in an interview with Albert Ahabwe.
The Silverbacks have won two (against Iraq and Bahrain) and lost three (against Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Cameroon) games at the tournament but Geu believes the team is on the right track.
“I feel we have done pretty good… There have been some ups and downs but there are a lot of good things we are doing as a team.”
The 6’8″ forward/center expects the group to compete hard when the qualifiers come calling next weekend in Lagos, Nigeria.
“I expect us to come out and compete hard, play as a team and play our basketball.”