Nebraska Basketball: Nana Akenten departure expected in turnover
Nebraska Basketball has lost another player.
Nebraska Basketball will be suffering from another transfer as sophomore guard Nana Akenten announced via Twitter on Wednesday that he will leave the program.
Akenten had his share of ups and downs in the past year. In 28 games, he averaged 4.3 points per contest and 2.5 rebounds per game. He saw playing time sparingly, but when he performed well, he was on the money. His best game came against Michigan in the season finale. In that contest, he played in 10 minutes recording 11 points and shooting 71.4% from the field. He showed a little bit of what he could do with the playing time he was given, but on a senior-laden team, it was not always easy to get minutes.
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Perhaps the biggest thing that happened to him last season was he was suspended from the team for a violation of team rules in March. You have to wonder if his status for the upcoming season affected his decision to play for Nebraska Basketball.
Of course, it could also be the fact that he was a Tim Miles recruit. He may not have wanted to play for Hoiberg at all. Whatever the case may be, this is another hit to the depth of the program. He was probably not going to light the world on fire with the scoring, but it does take away a body from the bench. On a roster that is going to be a very young group to begin with, Akenten at least had experience as a sophomore and could have possibly built on that moving forward.
What does this mean? For one, this hurts the depth of the basketball team. However, I don’t think it will be a damaging loss. Nebraska needs to continue to try to build up the roster. Truthfully, I partly expected this because of the fact that a new coach is going to be on the bench next year. However, it does not negate the fact that the Huskers will certainly need to continue to add pieces to the roster. Hoiberg should be able to do that. Obviously, you never like to see a player leave, but I think this is a classic case of a player wanting a fresh start and he deserves a shot to do so.
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It’ll be interesting to see how they replace Akenten. Again, I don’t think he is a big loss, but he is a player that had experience. I am not by any stretch of the imagination saying he is bad. He did play well several times for Nebraska Basketball. Now, much like the player, Nebraska Basketball will be looking for a fresh start of their own. With the coaching staff that is assembled, I think the Huskers should be fine in terms of being able to find a replacement.