Akol Arop

[hhcmatt]

Not sure how much this changes when he might play against better competition but he easily appears to be our best rebounder when on the court.

[Fullbacksympathy]

I thought he was our one bright spot in the last contest.  He really is a nice looking athlete and if he’s as coachable as Hoiberg says, I think they’ll make the most of his athleticism and character.  Fred often spoke about both he and Charlie in the same sentence as high effort practice players.  Charlie probably came in a little more polished.  Akol might have quite a bit more upside.  

[FredsSlacks]

he's probably gone unless he gets chance to play the rest of the year.

[hhcmatt]

We are going to be shuffling guys in and out of this program every single year and often playing with a rotation of 7-9 guys which means you will have anywhere from 4-6 potentially unhappy guys every single year. I would have to think that staff will try and do anything to keep a guy like this who is a plus-plus as far as actually caring he plays for Nebraska and by all accounts is a very high character guy who also happens to have B1G athleticism. 

 

I'd be pretty surprised if he wasn't on the team next year.

[basketballjones]

On 2/3/2020 at 2:27 PM, FredsSlacks said:

he's probably gone unless he gets chance to play the rest of the year.

Do you have inside info on this or are you just speculating?

[AuroranHusker]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Do you have inside info on this or are you just speculating?

 

Yeah, I see zero reason why Akol Arop wouldn't be back. It doesn't make sense to me for him to leave, especially if he enjoys school in Lincoln; and, as a bonus, he's only 50 mi. from his parents & family. So I guess we'll have to wait & see 'til the season's over to find out what's what on this front...

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by AuroranHusker

[basketballjones]

4 minutes ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

Yeah, I see zero reason why Akol Arop wouldn't be back. It doesn't make sense to me for him to leave, especially if he enjoys school in Lincoln; and, as a bonus, he's only 50 mi. from his parents & family. So I guess we'll have to wait & see 'til the season's over to find out what's what on this front...

 

 

Agreed. Unless he's:

1. Just desperate to be on the court and feels it's never going to happen here
2. Is told he's not good enough and needs to find somewhere else
3. Has bad influences in his ear
He'll be back. 

[AuroranHusker]

7 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

Agreed. Unless he's:

1. Just desperate to be on the court and feels it's never going to happen here
2. Is told he's not good enough and needs to find somewhere else
3. Has bad influences in his ear
He'll be back. 

 

Yeah, well, agreed, that goes without saying: Any outside influence can be a detriment to the Process.

[Art Vandalay]

On 1/31/2020 at 7:52 PM, Dead Dog Alley said:

There's a decent chance that his brother will play in the Final Four this year.  He's not playing much but that team is legit.

Read a good article on him today. Coach loves him and only reason he has not played as much is injuries, just can’t get healthy. I hope Akol fills out the same way. Aquek looks pretty strong these days

[khoock]

4 hours ago, Art Vandalay said:

Read a good article on him today. Coach loves him and only reason he has not played as much is injuries, just can’t get healthy. I hope Akol fills out the same way. Aquek looks pretty strong these days

He is listed at 220-225# for SDSU. Hopefully we can get Akol to pack on that much muscle.

[Minnesota_Husker]

On 1/31/2020 at 1:00 PM, 49r said:

 

People were saying the same thing about Thor just a few months ago...

Thor and Akol are two different players... but sure, lets make blanket comparisons. 

[basketballjones]

Aside from needing to learn perimeter offensive skills - I've been almost more disappointed in his perimeter defensive skills. He is not anticipating the driver's first step very well. Is not ready to drop step and cut off, feet are not very active yet. He's been blown by, by a couple lumbering bigs on the perimeter - which I did not expect. 

[TheGov21]

1 hour ago, basketballjones said:

Aside from needing to learn perimeter offensive skills - I've been almost more disappointed in his perimeter defensive skills. He is not anticipating the driver's first step very well. Is not ready to drop step and cut off, feet are not very active yet. He's been blown by, by a couple lumbering bigs on the perimeter - which I did not expect. 

 

Probably because at Prep he was just asked to be a rim protector and wasn't developed beyond that.

[Husker Hoops Penitent]

The likelihood of Arop returning next year is negligible. Scholarships are too, too valuable to consign one to a player on an historically bad team (wins/losses) who is seeing a minute or two at the end of blowouts. (nearly every game!) Hoiberg isn't messing around like the previous coaches NU has had to endure. His gesture to Easley was fine, but that was for one semester. Now they have one open spot, and soon to be two or three. In the tradition of the greatest coach of all (J. Wooden) he likes to play seven, and possibly eight players per game. Having a full complement of scholarships keeps competition rabid, and naturally improves the team. I fully expect to see three new names next season, not including King, and expect two to be big men. We shall see. 

[BannedAccount]

18 hours ago, Husker Hoops Penitent said:

The likelihood of Arop returning next year is negligible. Scholarships are too, too valuable to consign one to a player on an historically bad team (wins/losses) who is seeing a minute or two at the end of blowouts. (nearly every game!) Hoiberg isn't messing around like the previous coaches NU has had to endure. His gesture to Easley was fine, but that was for one semester. Now they have one open spot, and soon to be two or three. In the tradition of the greatest coach of all (J. Wooden) he likes to play seven, and possibly eight players per game. Having a full complement of scholarships keeps competition rabid, and naturally improves the team. I fully expect to see three new names next season, not including King, and expect two to be big men. We shall see. 

I agree Akol is nothing more than a role player.  At the same time you have 13 schlorships.  You arent going to have 13 players who are 4* players and studs competing.  You play 8-9 players barring injuries.  Having a role player like Arop isnt a bad thing if he realizes he isnt playing 10 or more mins a game or not at all.  Having a roster loaded will just result in transfers anyway with limited playing time.  You only need 2-3 studs to turn this around with role players.  If Akol stays and accepts his role it wouldnt be a bad thing consodering all the new players and new ones coming in

[khoock]

Agree with the above post. The staff seems to really like his potential. The staff also likes to have two or three guys RS each season and only plays roughly eight guys. On average, that leaves two spots open who arent RS and arent in the rotation. 

 

Things to consider:

- Is that Akol's ceiling on this team or at this level? 

- Is that a role Akol is okay filling?

- Is the staff okay with keeping him IF that is his ceiling?

Edited February 28, 2020 by khoock

[REDitus]

I would like to see Arop return and I would like to see him redshirt next year.   I am an old fogey that thinks redshirt years are invaluable.    I think it will be challenging to crack the lineup next year but in time I think he has value as a role player like others are saying.    I think his future would be best as a PF.   

Edited March 2, 2020 by REDitus

[HuskerBB]

Arop was about 1,000 times better than Cross in their limited minutes vs. NW today.    Wish we had used him in the second half instead of putting in Cross for 2 minutes so NW could go on a quick 6-0 run.

 

[dustystehl]

We need players who can make shots. You can have all the athleticism in the world, but if you can't make baskets, you're not gonna play on a B1G team.

 

Arop didnt play much on one of the worst B1G teams of all time. I don't think that's an accident. To think he will drastically improve or redshirt anytime soon seems pretty unlikely to me.

 

Arop can be our 12th guy - I'd be fine with that - but if you think he will be a contributor anytime soon, you should also expect more seasons of playing on Wednesday at the B1G Tournament. I'm sick of that. We need better players. We need players better than Akol Arop.