Well-traveled guard goes big for USU – Deseret News

LOGAN — Even though Jerrod Calhoun was basically an unknown in the West when he was hired by Utah State last spring, Dexter Akanno was convinced it was worth the risk to transfer from Oregon to USU to play for new Aggies coach.

And thanks to the Aggies winning the first 10 games of Calhoun’s tenure, it definitely seems like the right move for the Valencia, California native. Especially since this is essentially a winning season for Akanno’s previous college basketball career in less than two months of action.

“Players that have good years, they play to their strengths, and his strength is catching and shooting the basketball,” Calhoun says of Akanno, who spent three years at OSU after wearing a redshirted and played one season at Marquette. “So we talked to him about coming to Utah State and becoming a more efficient player, and with efficiency comes winning.”

Calhoun continued: “If you look at his history, he averaged 10 wins a year for four years? Like 40 wins. One year they only won three. So, I think his teammates, and I think this place – Utah State and Logan – have been really good to him.

“And we were really lucky to have him,” Calhoun adds.

Because the Aggies almost didn’t.

After Calhoun was lured away from Youngstown State, he initially managed to retain the services of the talented perimeter trio of Mason Falslev, Ian Martinez and Josh Uduje, all of whom played prominent roles for a USU team who won 28 games in 2023-24; However, Uduje had a change of heart very late in the spring transfer window and ended up transferring to San Jose State.

“Players who have good years, they play to their strengths, and his strength is catching and shooting the basketball. So we talked to him about coming to Utah State and becoming a more efficient player, and with efficiency comes winning.

— Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun on Dexter Akanno

Fortunately, Calhoun and his staff had already chased down Akanno, who was third on the Beavers in scoring during the 2023-24 season, averaging 10.9 points per game while making 25 starts.

“When Uduje entered the portal about 24 hours from that portal, we had already told Dexter Akanno that we were moving forward because Josh Uduje was coming back,” Calhoun notes. “So for Dex to see the loyalty and for us to really try to get back out there and recruit him again paid off.”

Calhoun continues with a slight smile: “You know, his mother (Mercy Eze) tells me all the time that she didn’t want him to come here, and now she thinks it was the best decision of his life. She really didn’t want him to come because we told her we were going in another direction, right? But that’s how crazy the portal can be.

Akanno, who was also wanted by San Diego State, UNLV, USC and UC Santa Barbara, said during his visit to Utah State: “I could immediately say that there was a spark here.

“Then I discussed my decision with my mother, I prayed about it, and I talked about it with the people who had a stake in my decision,” adds Akanno. “And we just thought that would be the best fit for me.”

Akanno, 24, who grew up in Southern California with his older sisters, China and Chioma, says he has always relied heavily on his mother’s input. Mercy Eze, a native of Nigeria, came to the United States as a teenager and is well known throughout the Valencia region for her spiritual beliefs, community service, and health clinic efforts as a family nurse practitioner .

“She’s a hard worker; she has two, sometimes three jobs,” Akanno says of her mother. “I always looked up to her and tried to have the same kind of work ethic every day. She came here very young – just 16 or 17 – and I never really understood how amazing it was until I took into account what I was doing at 16 or 17.

Dexter, who earned a communications degree at Oregon State and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in sports management at USU, is actually Akanno’s middle name. His first name is Chilu… sort of.

“It’s Nigerian, and it’s actually longer than Chile; it is reduced,” explains Akanno. “I started using Dexter when I started playing basketball because people couldn’t pronounce my first name, and I stuck with Dexter.”

Just 5-foot-7 as a freshman in high school, Akanno is now 6-5 and 210 pounds. After averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a senior at Valencia High in 2017-18, Akanno spent a year at Blair Academy in New Jersey. He says that being so far away from home at the age of 17 was difficult, but that the new environment helped him “learn more about himself”, and having virtually nothing else on what to focus on than basketball and school ended up being positive as he contemplated the start. of his collegiate career.

Akanno, who received scholarship offers from the likes of Virginia Tech and New Mexico, decided to sign with Marquette and Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski. He redshirted in 2019-20 for a team that went 18-12, then appeared in 12 games in 2020-21. The Golden Eagles finished 13-14 that year, good for only ninth place in the Big East, and Wojciechowski, currently head coach of the NBA G League Salt Lake City Stars, was fired after seven seasons.

This led to Akanno transferring to Oregon State and spending the next three years playing for Wayne Tinkle, who played for longtime USU head coach Stew Morrill, at Montana . But in Milwaukee, Akanno got to know Koby McEwen, a highly recruited prep guard who played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Utah State before joining Marquette after former Aggie coach Tim was fired Duryea.

“I talked to him before I made my decision, knowing he was here,” Akanno said of McEwen, who finished his college career at Weber State in 2021-22. “So I told him about the Logan community. It was different then, but the characteristics of Cache Valley today are similar, with hard-working people who love to win here.

After seeing limited playing time at Marquette, Akanno saw plenty of action in his three seasons at Oregon State, starting 68 of 91 games. He admits his sophomore year in 2021-22 was a little “rough » as he averaged just 4.9 points and shot 37.4% for the season. But Akanno showed what he was capable of as a junior against rival Oregon, leading the Beavers in scoring with 20 and 17 points in two OSU losses.

Akanno, who scored a career-high 22 points against UCLA as a senior, averaged nearly 29 minutes per game for an Oregon State team that finished last in the Pac-12 and 13-19 overall. He says playing close to home in front of his family against teams like UCLA and USC was “God’s blessing,” but he decided to take advantage of his COVID-19 year to look for a winning opportunity elsewhere and d register his name on the transfer portal. early April 2024. It wasn’t until May 19 that his agent made it known that Akanno was coming to Utah State to play for Calhoun and a team that includes 7-foot forward Isaac Johnson, who played at Oregon in 2021-22.

“It’s been fun,” Akanno says of being part of Johnson. “We always talk about our Pac-12 days and how we come from a different conference with a different style of play. We always compare the players we play against to the players and teams we’ve seen in the Pac-12.

While Akanno played the two and three spots at Oregon State – and even stepped in at point guard at times – his role thus far with the Aggies has been to slot in at the two, three and four in the Calhoun offensive. He’s made two starts so far, but is usually one of the first Aggies off the bench, averaging 22.0 minutes, 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

“I just try to make the right play every time I’m on the court. And I’m happy that coach (Calhoun) feels like he can trust me in different situations.

— USU guard Dexter Akanno

“I don’t really care what position I play, especially in this offense,” Akanno says. “All guard positions are truly interchangeable. Doing everything I can to help this team win is my main goal. …Score, give energy, rebound. I just try to make the right play every time I’m on the field. And I’m happy that coach (Calhoun) feels like he can trust me in different situations.

So far, Akanno is shooting a career-best 43.2 percent from the field, while going 11 of 31 (35.5 percent) from 3-point range and hitting 81 percent of his free throws. In his final season at Oregon State, he shot 39% from the floor, 32.5% from 3-point range, and just 70% from the free throw line, so he was definitely more efficient offensively.

“My coaches have done a really good job of helping me understand what I’m good at and what I’m bad at and what I need to work on,” Akanno says. “So I think focusing and honing the skills that I’m really good at has allowed me to increase my effectiveness.”

After becoming the first Utah State team in school history to win its first 10 games of the season, the Aggies experienced their first taste of defeat on December 17, when UC San Diego earned a stunning 75-73 victory at the Spectrum. Akanno had a rough outing that night, going just 1 of 7 from the field and scoring two points in 25 minutes.

But as Utah State heads into Mountain West play, the Aggies will need more production from their graduated guard. He was named to the NIT season all-tournament team in late November and scored 16 points in just 19 minutes against Utah Tech on December 7.

And Calhoun is confident Akanno will step up when needed.

“This young man is a good player,” he said. “I think he’s going to have a long professional career. He’s just a good person, attentive and very easy to coach.