UMass Lowell Basketball: In-depth look at junior Point Guard Ayinde Hakim

Expectations for Hakim?

The expectations for Hakim are going to be different than the expectations for the River Hawks as a whole. Hakim is a real wildcard this year because he is going to finally get the keys to the offense and will be the leader of the team on the floor. Given he is the point guard he is going to have the ball in his hands every time down the floor and is going to be expected to make things happen.

Under coach Duquette, Lowell has always had a dominant player who has dominated the ball and dominated the scoring. As mentioned earlier it was first Christian Lutete, followed by Obadiah Noel, and now hopefully Hakim can add his name to the list.

It is reasonable to think that Hakim will easily lead the team in assists again this year, especially given he should play more than 25 minutes per game. His minutes may be upwards of 35 a night. As mentioned, he doesn’t need to shoot the ball well from deep to be a great player. The point guard is a pass-first guy who loves to get in the paint for the easy baskets and get to the foul line.

He took very minimal attempts from deep last year and likely will do so again. The point guard takes good shots and is going to set his teammates up well top run good offense. If Hakim repeats the season, he had last year it would be elementary to place him on the America East all-conference team.

Hakim is going to do his best regarding getting Lowell above .500 and hopefully further taking steps towards their first NCAA tournament appearance, but as we all know Basketball is a team sport and it will require other players to step up and help him out. Rosters are a mess right now with the portal and the NBA draft decisions and most importantly which players are coming back for their extra Covid year. All these things will be ironed out soon and once the rosters start to take shape everyone will get a clearer picture of the River Hawks roster.

One thing is for sure when it comes to Hakim. He is going to see an expanded role in the offense and will lead the team on the floor in multiple categories. The point guard is primed for a huge breakout year for the River Hawks.