NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Who will land rising class of 2019 star Akok Akok?
UConn Huskies
Dan Hurley has just gotten on the job at UConn and has a tough job – getting the 4/5 star local recruit. With Akok from the state, the Huskies are under some big pressure to land him and the fans are hoping it goes their way.
From a basketball standpoint, UConn needs to add him to the frontcourt. Outside of the often injured Terry Larrier, there was no scoring from the post players for the team, which hurt their overall offense in a big way. Having Akok brings the necessary balance that Hurley enjoyed at Rhode Island. Star guard Jalen Adams will have graduated it’s important that Christian Vital and others step up their respective games to make Akok feel that the Huskies will be viable by the time he possibly arrives.
Virginia Tech Hokies
At the start of last season, Virginia Tech already had three commits for the 2019 class. Now along with a key assistant, all are gone and the Hokies will have to find some new faces to replace the four seniors that will leave after next season.
It’s not surprising that the Hokies are a contender for Akok. He and Tech guard Wadissa Bede have a previous relationship, and Buzz Williams has had success with versatile bigs like Kerry Blackshear and Zach Delay. Even with the expected losses, the 2019-20 squad with Akok, Bede, Landers Nolley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker plus others would make them a serious threat in the ACC.
Next. Updated Preseason Top-25 for 2018-19. dark
With the Dukes and the Kentuckys of the world not currently involved (that can change in the coming months), this is a prime opportunity for one of the northeastern programs to get a five-star prospect on the rise. It’s fluid and there’s no timetable for a decision, so these programs will have to wait a while for Akok. But likely for one of them, the wait will be all over.