By Todd Golden
The Tribune-Star
Omaha, Neb.
January 25, 2008 12:33 am
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Omaha Bryan boys basketball coach Tim Cannon could breathe a sigh of relief.
Forward Koang Doluony, his best player and one of three Indiana State men’s basketball recruits from their 2008-09 freshman class, led the Bears with 20 points. Doluony had scored 10 points in the first quarter, making three 3-pointers in the process as Bryan beat westside Omaha school Millard South 56-40 last Friday.
Cannon was relieved because Doluony seemed to be getting himself on track again. Being a Division I athlete is a dream to many, a burden to others. Doluony has put a lot of pressure on himself to justify the faith ISU put in him to offer the scholarship.
“It’s been a challenge for him. He wants to enjoy his senior season and its been such a relief for him that he’s signed. But honestly, I don’t know that he’s always been comfortable with the pressure. People look at him and say, ‘there’s the Indiana State recruit.’ It’s been a battle for him, but he’s scored better lately,” said Cannon, noting that Doluony had scored 21 and 14 in his previous two games.
Doluony kept it going after Bryan’s win over Millard South. Bryan (10-6) defeated Omaha Northwest 51-27 on Saturday, Doluony had 19 points. Bryan fell to Bellevue East 59-58 on Tuesday and Doluony scored 14. Bryan was scheduled to play Lincoln Southwest on Thursday.
Doluony is averaging 17.5 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks per game for the Bears, so it’s not as if he’s struggling. Still, Bryan lost a lot of talent after being one of Omaha’s best teams during Doluony’s junior season and he is clearly the player teams try to stop. It’s not an easy transition.
“Guys come after you harder, but I told him to relax and play. We trust him that he’ll come out and play hard or we wouldn’t have given him the scholarship. We told him to go out and prove he’s good enough. I think he put some pressure on himself to prove that he deserved a scholarship,” said ISU coach Kevin McKenna, who along with assistant coaches Greg Lansing and Lou Gudino, watched Doluony’s game last Friday.
Doluony projects to the three or four spot at ISU. He’s only 6-foot-7, but he a huge wingspan, with the reach of a 7-footer. Doluony worked primarily on the perimeter against Millard South, but as his rebounding total suggests, he is adept inside.
“I just try to come out aggressive and score every time I touch the ball. I have to play hard and I’ve been trying to get our team going because we’ve been struggling a bit,” Doluony said. “I’m trying to get stronger and I’m trying to get smarter as a player. I’m just working hard to get quicker and work on as many things as I can.”
McKenna indicated that Doluony will likely have a bit of a learning curve once he gets to ISU.
“He’s a year or two from seeing his best basketball. He’s like Isiah [Martin, ISU freshman center]. He needs some maturity and he needs to fill out. He needs some time in the weight room and getting a little more consistent meal plan going,” McKenna said.
Doluony has more than basketball to worry about. A Sudanese native, he came to the United States when he was in the fourth grade, spending time in a refugee camp before coming to America. Doluony’s dad is a Baptist minister and speaks little English and his mother speaks no English at all, so Doluony has more family responsibilities than your typical high school senior.
“His dad [Pete] is a Baptist Sudanese minister and he has a lot of brothers and sisters to take care of. He’s very Americanized, but also remembers what it was like [in Sudan]. His mom doesn’t speak English and his dad speaks very little, so he has to represent the family in a lot of ways. He’s always a gentlemen and he’s very mature. He’s always responsible in all of the things he’s asked to do,” Cannon said.
Doluony is part of a large Sudanese community in Omaha, estimated at 5,000 émigrés. Nearly all came to the United States in the wake of a Civil War that ravaged the country from 1983 to 2005, culminating in widespread famine in 1998. The peace agreement reached to end the conflict is tenuous at best and is the genesis of the Darfur crisis that currently rages in western Sudan. Doluony’s family left the Saharan nation in 1999, along with 500,000 other Sudanese.
“It’s a tough home situation for Koang. He’s had some really tough situations with the people around him in the Sudanese community,” McKenna said. “His mom works, his dad travels a lot, so he’s got a lot of responsibility at home. It can overwhelm a young kid. I think once he comes to college, he’ll be able to focus in more on basketball and his classes.”
Doluony’s didn’t get to see the Sycamores play at Creighton last Saturday — Bryan played Omaha Northwest at the same time — but he did attend the team’s Saturday shootaround. Doluony has been to Terre Haute for a game and keeps up with ISU online.
“Every time I get out of practice I check my computer to see how they’re doing. Whenever there’s a game, I watch it. I can keep up pretty good. I really like their playing style and I like all of the coaches,” Doluony said.
Todd Golden is sports editor of the Tribune-Star. He can be reached at (812) 231-4272 or todd.golden@tribstar.com.
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