LAS VEGAS β For the second year in a row, the Arizona Wildcats have turned a homecourt loss into a major recruiting victory.
Emmanuel Akot, a five-star class of 2018 small forward from Winnipeg, Manitoba, said Thursday that he has committed to the Wildcats after taking in Arizonaβs Feb. 25 loss to UCLA at McKale Center.
Like UA freshman Rawle Alkins, who committed to the Wildcats after watching Oregon beat them at home last season, Akot said he was struck by the environment and passion Arizona had for basketball. Akot said he was also impressed with the campus and UA coach Sean Miller.
βIt didnβt scare me at all,β Akot said of the game. βUCLA has a very good team and it was nice to see the basketball culture (at Arizona) and see how important it was. β¦ It was a big game but when coach Miller had time off heβd come to me and my parents and get to know us.β
As it turned out, Akot picked the Wildcats primarily over Utah, which has seen a resurgence of fan interest under coach Larry Krystkowiak. Akot also considered Oregon and Louisville, but decided to make an early decision before his junior year at Utahβs Wasatch Academy ended.
βHe wanted to choose now because he wanted to be the one choosing,β said Wasatch Academy coach Curtis Condie, a former Utah Valley assistant. βHe didnβt want to choose because other players went somewhere (and forced his hand). Emmanuel and his family were very thorough in this decision and they made a great decision. They didnβt let anyone else pressure them.β
Akot said he envisions himself fitting into Arizonaβs system as a player who can fill in at any of the three perimeter positions.
βArizona has great basketball coaches and they fit my style,β Akot said. βThey have great bigs. They do a lot of pick-and-roll and Iβm really good at that. I want to win a national championship.β
Akot is expected to bring the Wildcats a key tool to compete for one: As good as the Wildcats have been during a 27-4 regular season, they have been lacking a prototypically versatile small forward. Ray Smith was expected to play that role before a third ACL tear ended his career in the preseason.
“He’s something the Arizona program been sorely missing over the past couple of years,” Scout.com analyst Josh Gershon said. “He’s a 6-6, 6-7 athlete with an unbelievable motor who can guard multiple positions. He can play on the ball with his ball-handling and passing. He’s not a point guard but more of a playmaking small forward in the mold of Andre Iguodala, and he has a good shot. His stroke is a little inconsistent, but he can be a very competent shooter down the line.”
Condie said Akot also uses intelligence to his advantage. Akot is a good student and a former Manitoba provincial chess champion, Condie said, who can anticipate whatβs going to happen on the court.
βHeβs a very smart and intelligent person, and he has such a good basketball IQ,β Condie said. βHeβs a long, athletic guard who can play multiple spots. We play him at the two but heβs a backup one.β
Condie said he doesnβt use Akot at power forward, though he can guard one. That defensive versatility could also help him fit in at Arizona, the way Gershon sees it.
βI feel watching Sean Millerβs teams that theyβve been the best when heβs been able to play a small forward at the four-man spot, like a Solomon Hill or Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson),β Gershon said. βMost teams force you to play small which means you have to have the ability to play small and guard a small forward (at power forward).
βRay Smith was supposed to be that guy and without him, thereβs been a huge hole, with nobody to guard somebody like (Oregonβs) Dillon Brooks. Imagine if you had Rondae to guard Brooks.β
While playing for Canada in the FIBA U17 World Championships last summer, Akot averaged 9.9 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 58.5 percent from the field and making 6 of 9 3-pointers.
Akot also had six assists, five blocks, four steals and 11 turnovers in seven games played during the tournament.
βIt was a really good experience to represent my country and it gave me confidence to know I could compete with the best players in the world,β Akot said. βIt was really different coming off the bench. I was more of a motor guy playing defense.β
Akot is averaging 17.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists this season for Wasatch, which is 23-4 against an aggressive schedule. Akot is in his second year at Wasatch, having left Winnipeg after a travel-ball teammate recommended the 341-student school in the small central Utah town of Mount Pleasant.
Akot was born in Calgary, Alberta, to parents originally from South Sudan. They left after a year and moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, for six years before moving to Winnipeg.
All those years on the Canadian prairies and in Northern Utah gave Akot another reason to choose Arizona.
βThereβs good weather,β he said.
Akot is believed to be the Wildcatsβ first recruit from Canada in the modern era, and heβs also their first player in the class of 2018. The UA signed four players for the class of 2017 last fall and Miller said he is aiming to add one or two more during the spring signing period.
Arizona has 14 players as of now on its 2017-18 roster, one over the scholarship max, but is expected to lose at least two early to professional basketball this spring.
Both Lauri Markkanen (7) and Kobi Simmons (49) are projected to be taken in Draft Expressβ Mock 2017 NBA Draft, though the well-regarded website moved Allonzo Trier from 2017 to the 2018 draft this week.
Draft Express President Jonathan Givony said Trier is now not expected to leave this season unless heβs projected to go in the first round.
