Akolda Manyang 7-0, Class of 2013

[tropicalshox]

Rivals has him at 6-10. Tennessee's board calls him a 7 footer. He was at Duluth(East), Minnesota. Believe he is taking a prep year somewhere in Florida. Minnesota has been his favorite. Others involved include Penn State, Tulsa, Boston U, Tennessee, UTEP, Utah and Virginia.

Akolda35's tweet:

Got a muscle sprain unfortunately not. Good cuz Wichita state coming to watch me play

[tropicalshox]

Confirmed 7 footer, 213lbs.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A3mrT9PCMAAQMGB.jpg

[mumdaddy316]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsED7MKYAbE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[tropicalshox]

I have a new favorite!

[mumdaddy316]

Really nice upside,could do get things under Coach Marshall

[wu_shizzle]

Active, Aggressive, I even like the dribble out leading the break.

I'm sure there's some flaws to his game, but there's a lot of upside there.

Here's some back story: http://www.startribune.com/sports/pr...=1&c=y&refer=y

[mumdaddy316]

Could be a real blocking machine for us

[shock]

Dude is a ball hawk. Plus he has a post arsenal. That hook is nice.

[Capitol Shock II]

Hope he comes to see our house!

[Ricardo del Rio]

213?

Boy oh boy. Kerry will have a lot of fun.

[SubGod22]

He sure can move. Would like to see some actual post moves to see where he's at there. But intriguing

[mumdaddy316]

What does he know about us?

[vtshocker]

What does he know about us?

well he knows how to spell Wichita so thats a good start

[mumdaddy316]

Lol that is a biggie

[Shocker91]

I saw Akolda Manyang play live in Kansas City at one of the Tom Tietze events at Okun Fieldhouse. Very nice 7-ish footer. Maybe more like 6'10"-6'11", though, if we're being honest (in spite of what that body analyzer printout says; not quite Garrett's height).

SUPER long wingspan. I don't think the video above does it justice. Incredible shot blocker. May be one of the best in his class. Very natural timing and gets off the ground quick. Offensively, he is limited but has lots of tools. Gets buckets purely from his activity (offensive boards/putbacks, loose ball plays, transition, etc.). However, the highlight is obviously just that--a highlight. The kid probably ran the floor for a bucket twice in the two games I saw him, so bear that in mind. While he runs the floor hard, he normally isn't going to be out in front; he'll be there for trail putbacks. He also plays strong; so even though he's lean, he doesn't shy from contact at all.

Overall, my impression of Manyang from that tourney was that he was a high-major talent. He needs some work offensively, but he's so active, rebounds so well, and blocks shots so naturally that he could be a contributor early in the right place. Upon leaving, I honestly told someone I thought he was the kind of kid you could develop and bring along slowly to play the middle of the zone at 'Cuse or Baylor. He's that kind of shotblocker and athlete. His AAU team (Howard Pulley) also had a couple others whose offers/looks were mid-level that I thought could be system HM guys.

Lastly, a funny story: Tubby Smith was at the first of his games that I saw. Manyang got back on D quickly on a fastbreak and waited at the rim for this 6'3" wing from Team Illinois who didn't care about the big man. The wing slow-stepped, cocked it back, and went right at Manyang. Manyang barely even needed to jump to swat this kid's dunk attempt five rows deep in the coaches' section. All the other coaches kept poker faces, but Tubby went into a full-on belly laugh.