Olympic Profile - Luol Deng (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Croydon's Luol Deng

6:30pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Olympic Profiles By Nick Hitchens

Name: Luol Deng

Age: 27

Event: Men’s Basketball Location: The Basketball Arena, Olympics Park, Stratford.

Time: First match against Russia Sunday July 29 at 8pm later fixtures are July 31, August 2, August 4 and August 6.

Local Link: Born in Sudan, he was raised in South Norwood before his success saw him move Stateside.

Career Best: 38 points scored in a single game vs Lithuania during the 2011 Eurobasket finals

Career High: First ever Briton picked to play in a NBA All-star game.

Sporting Background: Beginning life as a talented footballer, Deng was convinced to take up basketball and his ability immediately shone through. He plies his trade with the Chicago Bulls.

He says: "It means a lot to me.

"It means a lot to the basketball community in the UK to see finally us walking out."

We say: "The British basketball team faces an uphill struggle and much rests on the performance of star player Luol. If he plays to his peak the team could make the knockout rounds."