Nicola Akele - SF
From: Treviso, Italy
School: IMG Academy (FL)
Travel/AAU:
Ht: 6'7"
Wt: 215
RANKINGS:
Rivals: NR
Nicola Akele, a 6-7 small forward from IMG, holds offers from Rhode Island, USF, George Mason and Duquesne, with interest from Michigan, Arizona and Texas.
“He’s just a Euro-style stat filler, tremendous ball skills,” Barto said. “He’s versatile, athletic, long and has a very high basketball IQ.”
In that pic with Akele is Aaron Falzon from NMH. He would have been the perfect fit here as a stretch 4. In the bottom picture in the NMH uniform is Tomas Murphy. That team is so loaded, Murphy only got a few minutes off the bench when I saw them play.
@AdamFinkelstein: URI gets commitment from IMG 6'8 F Nikola Akele. Rhody fans can see him this weekend at Providence Jam Fest. Was 1 of best left on board.
Akele is a 6'7 wing from Italy who last played for Umana Reyner Venezia, but chose to leave. He will spend the 2014-2015 season at IMG Academy in Florida. He has interest from Oregon, St. John's, Miami, and Florida St.
Wow this one came out of nowhere. Love the potential there. Hope this ends up being a steal.
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"Our goals have not changed, we want to be the best program in the Atlantic 10, and even more than that we want to get to a Final Four someday." - Thorr Bjorn - March 22, 2018
Watching that video again, I love his motor. Should fit right in defensively.
How long has it been since he played in Italy? I wonder if Delroy knows him at all. He's been over there for a few years right?
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"Our goals have not changed, we want to be the best program in the Atlantic 10, and even more than that we want to get to a Final Four someday." - Thorr Bjorn - March 22, 2018
Adam Finkelstein @AdamFinkelstein
· 3h 3 hours ago
Akele originally from Italy. Highly talented and multi-dimensional. Thought he was straight HM when I saw him with IMG this year.
Adam Finkelstein @AdamFinkelstein
· 3h 3 hours ago
URI gets commitment from IMG 6'8 F Nikola Akele. Rhody fans can see him this weekend at Providence Jam Fest. Was 1 of best left on board.
Wow, what a nice surprise! Nikola looks good to me. Another outside shooter is exactly what they need, other than a 6'10 center.
He should help open up the inside game and help EC and Four (Along with improved shooting from JT and Jarvis) to put a lot of points on the board.
I would expect Iverson to help there too. If Berry can add enough inside presence maybe they can go with what they have, but would love to have
that 6'10 guy to open 2015. Make it happen Dan. We believe.
Great news...he did look a bit like Abdul in that video. Abdul was my favorite player during my years at Rhody. One other thing of note, the projo story says Four will be the backup PG.
Didn't realize he was 20 at first either. Combine that with his international experience and he could pay dividends quickly off the bench.
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"Our goals have not changed, we want to be the best program in the Atlantic 10, and even more than that we want to get to a Final Four someday." - Thorr Bjorn - March 22, 2018
I honestly do not know what the competition was like and how much you can read into it, but I found this:
"In last summer’s FIBA Division A U20 European Championships Akele averaged 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, shooting nearly 54 percent from the field."
Nice news to wake up to this Mother's day. Looks like only upside with Nikola's youth and talent. Adding McGlynn, Iverson and Akela and we should be light years better from the outside. With Butts and Thompson, a SG, also on-board and its now looking like a good off-season. Now comes the task of melding it all together.
The campus looks beautiful this time of year, no better time to show it off to prospects.
I'm liking this signing very much, as you all know, Gli italiani fare tutto meglio. How many years does he have? Three I'm guessing, or is he a true freshman at 20 yrs old? In this age of social media, this looks like it could be a great under the radar signing.
Ugh! The clearing house.
Iffy couldn't play when he got here.
Back in the day, Zach Marbury couldn't play.
They're very spotty in their decision making.
Akele is 19. He will turn 20 during his first year of college, like many prep players, including Jared.
He will actually turn 20 shortly after EC does and right before Hassan, which emphasizes again just how young those two are as juniors.
It's also fair to say that Akele is a bit of a project, but he has lots of athleticism, a great work ethic, and a strong interest in playing defense. It's all there to be developed. Continued great work from this staff on getting this commitment.
