By: Jack Satzinger
Goaner Deng listens to hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar before competition, his Beats by Dre headphones cradling his head.
“Take your J’s and tell you to kick it where a Foot Locker is,” from Lamar’s “Money Trees” echoes in Deng’s ears.
As his head bobs to the beat, the Gophers middle-distance runner looks down at his feet shrouded in Air Jordans.
They aren’t his only pair. Deng owns about 40 other pairs of basketball-inspired shoes.