Nebraska Basketball: Akol Arop should give team impactful local flair
Arop should be a solid player for Nebraska Basketball.
It’s no secret that Nebraska Basketball will have its share of scorers. Perhaps the most interesting thing about that is, some of the scoring load could come from freshmen. One of those freshman who could provide a major impact is Akol Arop. As he gets set to embark on his first college season Tuesday night, he may be familiar already to some Nebraska Basketball fans.
At first glance, his measurements are impressive. Measuring in at six-foot-six, 180 pounds, he certainly has the look of a forward. Hailing from Omaha, he excelled at Creighton Prep. According to his official biography on the Nebraska website, he was named an all-state player three times.
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Arop would finish with 1,216 points in his career, shooting 66%. In addition, he also showed he had a knack for getting rebounds. Recording 733 boards and 162 blocked shots, he showed he was more than just a scorer. His efforts gave him the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Nebraska in 2018-19 and he was a first-team All-State member as chosen by the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. The point here is, this kid has some pedigree. Not only does he have pedigree, but he has skills that should be able to translate to the college game nicely.
With how much the roster has been remade, he could figure to see significant playing time as a freshman. From what I have read about him, he almost seems to me like a Serge Ibaka-type player. In no way am I suggesting that he has to live up to those expectations, but there are certainly parallels between the two players.
He should be able to help Nebraska with length in the paint and perhaps a bit on the perimeter. That is an area in which they struggled at times last year, and it seems like the Nebraska Basketball coaching staff made a concerted effort to try and recruit those types of players to the roster this year.
There is going to be a lot of pressure on him to try and succeed. It’s definitely not going to be all fan -induced either. He is going to want to excel and put on a show for his hometown. It will be fun to have a local kid play for Nebraska. I am certainly happy to have him in the fold as he fills a bunch of areas of need for them.
Next. Three things to watch for in Tuesday opener. dark
It all starts on Tuesday and given how talented he is, I feel like this will be just the beginning of an exciting and eventful basketball journey for Arop. Hopefully it will include some postseason play down the road.