One teenage boy favors Panda Express and Seasons of Japan in Savannah. The other is partial to Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Their restaurant choices aren't unusual. One also loves to play video games – but only on the weekends under house rules. The other dominates in the Monopoly board game.
But when Chol Kiir and Kuol Deng take to the basketball court, they are not usual teenage boys. The Calvary Day School juniors are making a big impact – emphasis on big – for the Cavaliers, ranked No. 5 in Georgia Class 3A-1A Private, according to SandysSpiel.com.
The natives of South Sudan came to Savannah by way of Uganda in 2022 for a better education and to improve their basketball prospects for college. Since then, Deng has grown to 6-foot-10, and Kiir to 6-8, and their growth on the court has given the Region 3-A-leading Cavaliers (10-6, 7-0 region through Thursday) two towering pillars of a well-rounded team with title aspirations.
"They've both matured off the court," said Cavaliers second-year coach Scepter Brownlee. "They're good young men. They're fun. They have personalities.
"I think coming from a different country to a new situation, a new place, sometimes you hold back, you hold things in. I think the first adjustment was for them to be true students, to be true friends, to be true classmates, to be true teammates. I think they've done that. They've adjusted now to being able to accept criticism or give criticism. That's something they had to make a definite maturity adjustment."
Both Kiir, 17, and Deng, 18, agree that they had to get used to differences – including food choices -- in America, withKiir saying, "I just knew a little bit about the United States in general. I saw they had good basketball."
He didn't know anything about Savannah.
"One of the things that surprised me was the crowd and community Calvary had," Kiir said. "Every basketball game, so many people show up. That really surprised me."
Deng concurred, saying that crowds for his games in Africa weren't as big, and he played outdoors most of the time. He said it's also different getting to know new people.
PHOTO - Kuol Deng flushing it in a Hostillo Enmarket Holiday Tournament game
"You miss your family back home," Deng said. "You get here, you have to make different relationships with different people. That was the biggest (adjustment), food, people, of course the climate is different."
The pair are residing with Jason Mehl, an English teacher and grade level dean at CDS; his wife Louise; and their children, Lily, a senior, and Moses, a freshman.
Jason Mehl is a former college basketball player who coached the men's team and was athletic director at Uganda Christian University. He and his wife met in Uganda, and years later, they are well-suited to their new responsibility, including feeding their extended family.
"My wife and I were together there for three years, so we were exposed to quite a bit of rice and meat dishes, stuff like that," Jason Mehl said. "She makes a pot of rice probably four nights a week. It's pretty good stuff. I feel like them coming (to Savannah) has helped us eat better. We've elevated the rice game."
Hitting the road
In his view, probably the biggest adjustment is all of the extra driving to get two very tall young men where they need to be.
"Lots of practices and the logistics," said Mehl, a former assistant basketball coach at Calvary. "Lots of parents complain about having teenage kids and driving them around. We had two and all of a sudden, bang, we had four. It's an adjustment but it's not a problem. It comes with the territory. It's been great."
Small inconveniences, perhaps, matter little in the context of why Deng and Kiir came to Savannah and what they left behind. Their families moved years earlier to Uganda from South Sudan, which has a history of civil wars and continues to suffer from violent conflicts.
"A lot of families left South Sudan, many as refugees," Mehl explained. "Some left before they were forced to leave as refugees – like these guys – because South Sudan was so unstable. If they had the resources, families would move either to Uganda or Kenya and try to establish normalcy in communities there so kids could stay in school and keep things going because things got so tough in South Sudan."
Still, it was a hard decision for each to leave family in Uganda and travel far to a place they didn't really know anyone – Mehl being a contact through a Calvary connection in Africa.
Kiir talked to his mother and siblings, while his father still works in South Sudan. They asked if this is something he really wanted, Kiir said yes, and they agreed.
PHOTO - Chol Kiir going up for two in the Hostillo Enmarket Holiday Tournament game
Deng, one of eight children, grew up in an extended family of "more than 30." Some asked why not stay there, finish school, and get a job.
"Family didn't need us to do it, but we did it anyway because it was our dream to chase basketball, to achieve our dreams," Deng said. "We miss family. Family agreed with us coming out here. That was a big decision for them, too."
He said it's turned out better than he expected, and he's happy with the decision. So is Kiir, who admitted, "There's always going to be doubt regardless of where you are. You trust what's happening and just keep going forward."
Basketball, American style
Brownlee said that in addition to their personal development, the pair had to adjust to playing organized basketball in the United States.
"They had to learn terminology," Brownlee said. "They had to adjust to refereeing and officials. Sometimes you're going to get a foul just because you're bigger. I think they've made that adjustment -- their (basketball) IQ, their understanding of the game."
Kiir began playing for Calvary as a freshman, as he arrived in time for the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. Deng didn't start until that January, Mehl recalled and had to wait 12 months under GHSA rules, so he missed his freshman year and the first semester of his sophomore year.
Deng said it was difficult to sit because he wanted to play, but he learned a lot about how American basketball is played. He watched from the sidelines and cheered on the Cavaliers.
They said their skill set has improved and feel comfortable taking midrange jumpers – though they understand that fans expect them to dunk at any opportunity.
Deng was averaging about 14 points and 12 rebounds through games of Jan. 16, while Kiir averaged about seven points and 11 rebounds. They also can be intimidating rim protectors when they play inside on defense.
Last summer, Deng got a scholarship offer from Florida State and also has one from Cal as well as interest from Wake Forest, Brownlee said.
They give credit to Brownlee, a longtime college coach, including as an assistant with the women's team at Mississippi State. He came to Calvary as Director of Student Life a year before taking the reins of the boys squad.
Deng said Brownlee runs the team, including practices and skill work, like a college program. Kiir said the daily lessons will help them reach the next level.
"I think everything that's told to us by the coaches, we really try to understand it and apply it every day as much as we can," Kiir said.
The basketball education includes summers playing for an AAU team out of Atlanta. Brownlee said it's all helped Deng and Kiir have the right mindset for making the most of their opportunity.
"They have an understanding that we're just not out here having fun," Brownlee said. "This is actually something that's serious. People are putting time and effort into it. I think them playing in the summer, being able to travel across the country and play versus different people, the same size, people better than them, that really has allowed them to grow. We're excited about where they are, but just keep pounding the stone. There's so much more to come."
Photo: Courtesy Liza Youmans Social Media Manager Calvary Day School
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