Deng Nhial, a 2016 Wakefield High School graduate, recently finished his college basketball career. Call it a six-year plan.
Nhial played his final season this winter as a graduate student for University of Charleston Golden Eagles Division II men’s team in South Carolina. Prior to that, Nhial was a member of the Division II University of West Georgia team for five seasons.
The 6-foot-4 guard played three seasons for West Georgia and missed two others because of COVID and a red-shirt year. After graduating from Wakefield in 2016, Nhial spent the next season playing basketball at a prep school in Connecticut.
“Deng dribbled that college ball for a long time, but to his credit he did a lot in that time,” said Tony Bentley, who was Nhial’s head boys basketball coach at Wakefield. “He used all of the NCAA rules to keep playing and get his degree and a graduate degree.”
This most recent season for Charleston, Nhial started 29 games. He scored 154 points, made 34 three-pointers, had 26 steals, 24 assists and blocked seven shots.
For his college career, Nhial scored 767 points, grabbed 328 rebounds, made 129 three-pointers, had 118 assists, came up with 104 steals and played in 104 games.
Nhial was an all-district player and team captain during his team at Wakefield, where he played on many winning varsity teams. For his performance in the 2015-16 season, Nhial was chosen as a district Player of the Year and made first-team all-region and second-team all-state.
