Louisville's Mangok Mathiang trying to follow Gorgui Dieng's growth curve
By Jeff Greer
The Courier-Journal
Nobody's working harder to gain weight than Mangok Mathiang, the University of Louisville's 6-foot-10 center who just can't seem to Honey Bun and Kit-Kat his way past 212 pounds.
If only he could return to his younger days.
"I was kind of chubby as a kid," he said through a laugh. "I miss that a little bit right now."
Maybe coach Rick Pitino does, too. Minutes before reporters found Mathiang sitting quietly in his locker-room chair after U of L's 113-74 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, the coach worried about Mathiang's size.
In this, the season after Gorgui Dieng spoiled Pitino and U of L fans with a dominant interior presence, Mathiang has become the Next Big Man at Louisville. His improvement is one of the keys to the Cardinals making another March run.
But Dieng he is not. At least not yet.
"Great kid, works hard — he's got to front the post," Pitino said. "If he stands behind (his man), he's going to get swallowed up."
Dieng, who now plays for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, finished his U of L career with 245 pounds on his 6-11 frame. He'd spent three years working toward that size after arriving at 6-10, 225.
By the time he was helping lead the Cards to a national title last spring, Dieng was blocking 9.4 percent of opponents' shots when he was on the floor. That put him in the top 50 in the nation in shot-blocking percentage.
He also could get position on opposing big men and drive them out of the lane with his strength. That's where Mathiang, who's blocking 8.7 percent of opponents' shots when he's on the court, diverges from his predecessor.
Shawn Long scored 25 points in 29 minutes against the Cardinals on Saturday as Louisiana-Lafayette's de facto center. North Carolina's Joel James and Kennedy Meeks combined for 18 points and 18 rebounds in U of L's only loss this season.
None of them weigh less than 245 pounds, and all three had no problem gaining position in the post.
"It was a lot easier for (Dieng) to battle with guys than it is for me," Mathiang said.
Yet if there's one thing U of L fans have come to accept with the redshirt freshman, it's that patience is a virtue. They were patient with Dieng, and it paid off.
Same goes for Pitino, who said after inserting Mathiang into the starting lineup that the coaching staff was prepared to "deal with his mistakes until he gets it."
He is, after all, just learning the game. He didn't start playing until his teen years. He thought basketball was a soft sport. He was too tough, he'd say.
It took a 6-inch growth spurt over 18 months — and a persistent mother and brother — to convert him from rugby, soccer and Australian Rules Football. After that it didn't take long for love to grow.
He remembers his first dunk as if it were a first kiss.
"I caught the pass and just jumped up and I was like, 'Hey, look, I think I'm going to dunk it — yeah, yeah, I'm going to dunk it,' " Mathiang said with a hurried, excited voice.
"And then this guy jumps with me. He just kept jumping, so I just kept jumping. I didn't pay him any mind. I just dunked it. Everyone was going nuts, but the only thing I heard was my brother shouting, 'Yeah, that's my brother who dunked it.' "
The newness to basketball is balanced by a competitive streak and strong desire to "get it." That same desire carried Mathiang through primary, middle and high school in Australia, where he was forced to learn English in addition to his native Dinka and Arabic.
He also has lived in Egypt, Illinois, Florida and now Louisville after leaving his native Sudan at 5. As a kid whose family escaped Sudan in a caravan in the middle of the night, Mathiang's pretty sure he can master basketball.
The eating, though …
"I eat every two hours," he said. "I eat so many protein shakes it's ridiculous. I get sick of drinking that stuff, but it's part of getting better, of becoming a man. Maybe this is another little obstacle that God wants me to get over."
Reach Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter @jeffgreer_CJ.
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