Nikola Akele leaving

[SGreenwell]

Any idea what type of $ players can make in a league like that? If he wasn’t going to play much here and can get same/more time playing at home then it seems like a nice move for Akele. Especially if he has or can get his degree.

I was kind of curious about this too, and frustratingly, 10 minutes of searching didn't provide a good answer. Closest I could find was that for Series A, a Syracuse player got $135k - https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketba ... italy.html - They used a promotion / relegation system for that Italian league, so I'd think it must be a decent amount of salary, like, $50k+, and not like CBA money.

[reef]

Great video posted

Nice to see the boys getting after it in the weight room !!

[Wagssr]

I believe that since he is Italian, he doesn't count against the "import" rule, which I think limits teams to two non-Italians. That might get him a few more Euros in his paycheck.

[Vinstu]

Best of luck to Nikola, always played hard but definitely wont lose sleep over his departure. Is there any chance we fill this spot? Also his decision might be due to the our freshman showing big time potential.

[steviep123]

While many on here apparently don't think this is a big loss, I do. Obviously, Nikola wasn't a huge star, but he provided valuable minutes off the bench the past couple of years, especially if Langevine and Berry were both in foul trouble. Plus even if he didn't/wouldn't get as much playing time, he's still a valuable guy to have around in practice. This may hurt more than we'll ever know.

Best of luck to you Nikola, and thanks for your time here.

[Running Ram]

While many on here apparently don't think this is a big loss, I do. Obviously, Nikola wasn't a huge star, but he provided valuable minutes off the bench the past couple of years, especially if Langevine and Berry were both in foul trouble. Plus even if he didn't/wouldn't get as much playing time, he's still a valuable guy to have around in practice. This may hurt more than we'll ever know.

Best of luck to you Nikola, and thanks for your time here.

This is what I believe, and I feel anyone shrugging this loss of Akele off as nothing at all isn't quite putting all the pieces together. It doesn't make room for a recruitment, we already have an open spot. I'm not getting the whole shoulder shrug attitude, no one is saying Nikola was going to fill the stat sheets, just that the value in having a 4th year forward with competent abilities to come off the bench is a piece of the puzzle we no longer have.

[ace]

With Nicola (c not k) gone, that leaves an 11 man roster and just four players with any meaningful college game experience and one of the four hasn’t played in a year. That’s why the move has significance, IMO.

[bigappleram]

Also it undermines the value of the entire roster...all 12 guys serve roles, and most of them aren't in the scoring department.
Programs need program guys. Guys that work hard, that practice hard, that compete every day. They elevate everyone...not everyone can be a double digit scorer, they are called role players for a reason. And in a successful program there is always a role for kids who do well in the classroom, lead by example and have game experience. It's a loss, for sure.

[ace]

Always good to have young men like this representing the program-





He gets to go home and make money playing basketball... I wish him well!

[Da_Process_Survivor]

Christmas in July!!!!!

Goodbye.

Shocking someone is actually going to pay him to play basketball though.

do you have to be that way?

Nikola is one of the nicest guys on the team, he played hard, and never complained. I wish him luck

He wasn’t good.

[TruePoint]

That's not really helpful, either.

[josephski]

With Nicola (c not k) gone, that leaves an 11 man roster and just four players with any meaningful college game experience and one of the four hasn’t played in a year. That’s why the move has significance, IMO.

I mean...it could have significance but even with Akele we would still lose 70% of our scoring from last year (~73% now with Akele gone), have a new head coach and rely heavily on freshmen. I agree with most that Akele leaving will likely only hurt us, I just think at this point there are bigger questions going into the season than if Akele can be replaced.

Also I mentioned this at one point last season, Akele was already pretty much locked into the last role player spot when Layssard and Preston got here. I was never sold on Akele being much better than either of those guys. He was here first so it was his spot to lose and Layssard/Preston would have had to prove they were a better option, not just equal.

[Ramulous]

I wanted him to stay......I am happy that he is chasing his dream, heading home, and getting paid to play.....Godspeed Nicola....

[Rhody15]

It's amazing that people think it's necessary to bash a quality guy like that on the way out..

I’ve bashed him every year since he was a freshman.

Year after year he has one average game and people call him the second coming the next day.

He provided little to nothing his three years here.

Now is he a nice kid? Sure, maybe he is.

But basketball wise, he was nowhere near an A10 caliber player, and I don’t believe our team will suffer at all.

Can we keep Nikola and get rid of Rhody15? He's provided nothing of substance to this forum. Not even a nice person. Fan wise, he is just nowhere near an A10 caliber Rhody fan. I don't believe this forum will suffer.

Easy tough guy.

People are allowed to have disagreements / not the same opinions on players and if you’re saying I provide nothing to this forum, I have about 3X as many posts as you, so take it down a notch there bud.

The kid averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds a game in 12 minutes a game here.

Not a big loss / will give Preston and Big Mike more opportunities.

And what the hell is “an A10 caliber Rhody fan?”

[NYGFan_Section208]

I'm not sure that # of posts means a lot?

[Running Ram]

And what the hell is “an A10 caliber Rhody fan?”

It's called tongue in cheek, he is speaking of you as you have spoken about Nikola, as if the forum was the program and you wouldn't be missed if gone, it would in fact just give others a chance to occupy your spot on the bench.

[Rhody83]

Was going to post this thought earlier. Ty was flying out of Philly last night (on his Instagram video) and as of 5:00 pm it was a recruiting Dead Period. The thought was they are looking at 5th year transfer to fill Nikola’s spot. Recruiting a leftover ‘18 doesn’t make sense because they have 4 talented Fr already and want to land three ‘19s.

[BleedBlue87]

@Rhody15 there are plenty of people here that have a similar opinion on the output Nikola has provided. That's not an issue.

The issue is you being a total asshole about it.

[Rhody83]

Christion Thompson Instagram video today shows Nikola saying goodbye. Leaving today. He stayed to finish the 2nd summer session of classes. Finals are next week. I am guessing he completed his Final already. Class act. He will be missed. It will be a weird Sr Night this year with no 4 year player graduating.

[ATPTourFan]

Link???

[Rhody83]

I dont think you can copy a link from a video of Instagram. If you follow Christion at mooosiee_ you can see his video

Here is Nikola’s goodbye post on Instagram

[Ramulous]

Once a Ram always a Ram!!! Cent'ann Nicola !!!

[ace]

[TruePoint]

I’m confused by Rothstein’s math. He’s reporting on the second game, but their record is 2-1?

[ace]

The best thing is it’s his second try. The first one said second game, 1-1 record when it was actually their third game.

ETA: third time’s a charm!

[Section104]

The best thing is it’s his second try. The first one said second game, 1-1 record when it was actually their third game.

ETA: third time’s a charm!

Akele the first player to be on a 2 game winning streak against PC since...?

[Puck Frovidence]

This is so great