In a span of about 24 hours through Monday morning, Sean Miller welcomed NBA prospect Rawle Alkins back to Tucson, learned he can play high school junior Emmanuel Akot immediately next season and effectively shut down recruiting of additional 2017 players.
When it was all over, the Arizona coach was left staring at possibly the best of nine rosters he has assembled with the Wildcats.
Maybe even as good, if not better, than UA’s Elite Eight teams of 2014 and 2015.
“It’s along those same lines,” Miller said Monday, during a news conference he attended with Alkins. “We’ll see. No. 1 there’s injuries. No. 2, is everybody who we think they are? And I think sacrifice is a big word here. Everybody has to play with the bigger objective and the bigger goal. That’s a lot easier said than done.”
By choosing to pass up his senior season at Utah’s Wasatch Academy for a likely reserve role with Arizona next season, Akot has already indicated he’s buying in. A versatile 6-foot-7 forward from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Akot has the size and skills to play a wing position but also enough of a passing touch that he could even develop into a point guard over time.
“He was our backup point, we posted him up and he worked a lot on his outside shot,” Wasatch coach Curtis Condie said Monday. “He was more consistent about (his shot) and when he wants to be, he can be an outstanding defender.”
Akot may just need a little time to adjust. A five-star talent born in Calgary and now based out of Winnipeg, Akot will have to make what Miller calls an “astronomical” jump from his junior year to a freshman in Arizona’s high-level college program. He turned 18 only in March and carries just about 200 pounds on his frame.
He’s “not afraid of competition,” Miller said. “He wants to come in here and compete and be a part of something special and really rely on that competitive environment to bring out the best in him.”
Akot committed to the Wildcats in March for the class of 2018 but, because he is a strong student who has already finished his core classes, was able to enroll at the UA this summer. Miller said Akot also benefited from an accelerated start in the Canadian school system.
While Miller kept pursing other wing players this spring — such as five star high-schooler Brian Bowen and Pitt grad transfer Cameron Johnson — he said once Akot decided to start early, Miller made room. Bowen and Johnson no longer appear to be UA targets.
“We didn’t necessarily try to speed him up or slow him down,” Miller said. “As long as he was able to qualify, obviously we’re going to take a commitment from him above and beyond anybody else because he’s someone who’s already been a part of what we’re doing.”
All-in Alkins
Although Alkins said at the NBA Combine earlier this month he would probably take until Wednesday’s deadline to decide whether to stay at Arizona, he didn’t need that long.
Having participated in the Combine and individual team workouts with the Nets and Raptors, Alkins pulled out of a planned workout with the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
“Around that time I spoke with coach and ... I ended up making that decision (to stay),” Alkins said. “Coach Miller and I had our cheers and stuff. We were happy.”
Alkins said the NBA feedback he received mostly centered on his versatility and need to shoot better (he shot 37.0 percent from 3-point range as a UA freshman).
“They tell me I’m one of these hybrid kids that once I get a consistent jump shot I’ll be virtually unstoppable,” Alkins said. “I’m using that as motivation for this year and I’ll continue to be in the gym every night until the first game of the season, shooting a thousand shots a day.”
Miller said the Alkins has already made “tremendous improvement” as a shooter and that his power game can fit into today’s NBA. Alkins measured at 6-foot-2.25 at the Combine.
“We don’t necessarily have to find him a position,” Miller said. “It’s about him developing so that in a year from now that he’s a better overall player, a more prepared player than he is right now and that’s really what college basketball is all about.”
Taking a Chance
While center Chance Comanche initially entered the NBA Draft without an agent as Alkins did, leaving the option to return to school, Comanche signed with one a month later despite not being invited to the Combine.
“I was surprised that Chance went but along the lines of Rawle, that’s his family’s decision, that’s Chance’s decision,” Miller said. “I’m not sitting here every day hoping that things don’t go well. I want him to do well and if there’s any way that we can help him as a basketball program, we want to help him.”
Meanwhile, freshman guard Kobi Simmons opted to leave permanently right away, signing with an agent in April. Miller said he expected that decision.
“Kobi and his family are very transparent and I think they wanted to get it started,” Miller said. “As you know, he’s one of the most athletically talented, gifted kids we’ve had. If you look at where he is now physically, it’s scary to think where he’ll be three or four years from now. He’s continuing to make that transition from high school point guard to pro point guard. So there’s a development process he’s going to go through whether he was here or whether he’s in the NBA game or wherever he’s at.”
Bullish on Jeter
Although forward/center Chase Jeter didn’t fully crack the Duke rotation in two years with the Blue Devils, Miller said he expects “great things” from him at Arizona. Jeter will play on the UA scout team in practice next season while sitting out the required redshirt year, then be eligible as a junior in 2018-19.
“I think we’re getting an excellent player,” Miller said. “Getting Chase was a big, big coup for us, as big as anything we were able to do this spring and we’re excited.”
Rim shots
• Miller said forward Talbott Denny was cleared for a sixth year of eligibility, giving the Wildcats additional depth and experience next season with the Tucson-born grad transfer from Lipscomb. The approval was something of a formality, since Denny met the requirement that it was not his choice he sat out for two seasons with injuries.
• Miller said Kadeem Allen’s graduation this month continued a streak of having all of his seniors graduate, 13 in all.
“That’s a source of pride, not just for me but for our athletic department and support staff,” Miller said. “In Kadeem’s case, for him to leave Hanover High School in Wilmington (N.C.) and go to junior college and redshirt (at UA), and end at that finish line, to graduate, is quite a testament to him.”
• Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Allonzo Trier are the only UA players taking pre-summer-session courses, while Miller said all of his newcomers will enroll in June, either for the first summer session or a bridge course. The entire team is expected to be eligible to play on a three-game exhibition tour in Spain in August.
