By Davide Bortoluzzi
Nicola Akele is after Simone Fontecchio the best player of 1995 Italian generation, with probably even a bigger upside than the kid playing for Virtus Bologna. During the last 3 summers he has been part of U16 and U18 Italian national junior teams, when he has solid digits and being one of the pillars of the team. He was born and raised in a small town near Treviso, and then moved to Reyer Venezia with his former coach and a couple of teammates. Year after year he became the top prospect of Reyer Venezia youth teams, leading his U15 team to the second place in 2010 and the U19 to the same position both in 2013 and 2014. During 2012/2013 he missed half of the season due to some heart issues, but now he’s fully recovered and last season he was also included in the active roster of Venezia first team in Italian Legabasket, playing solid minutes and scoring 2 points per game.
Standing 6-7 he has great speed and athleticism, with an amazing wingspan and huge hands. He’s still a little bit skinny but he has the right frame to bulk up without losing quickness and explosiveness. He’s basically a slasher excelling in transition game, with a good ball handling and the ability to exploit weaker guards and wings both using his superior athleticism, height and speed. His main flaw is still the shoot, especially the pull-up when he has to create from the dribble, which limits his overall offensive effectiveness. From this standpoint he has shown some improvements through last season, mainly focused in catch and shoot situations with the feet on the ground. Defensively he’s able to exploit his wingspan and explosiveness working on the passing lanes but he needs to improve his positioning and his fundamentals.
In order to ease his development Venezia planned to send him on loan to Pallacanestro Trieste, a second division team with which there’s an established cooperation agreement, based also on the exchange of players. Akele started the preparation with the team, while negotiating with Venezia his first pro contract. As a common practice Venezia offered to Akele 5 years at the minimum, which usually changes if the player explodes or maintains the expectations. The player and his advisors (his parents and Matteo Comellini from Sigma Agency, which isn’t officially his agent) refused the proposal with a consequent contrast between the parties. Under the Italian rules a player can refuse a contract, but the team that signs him shall pay a compensation to the team that nurtured him, Venezia in this case, otherwise the player can’t play at pro level. For this reason the situation is frozen at the moment and the exit strategy for Akele is not easy. Even the NCAA seems not probable since he hasn’t finished yet the high school and due to the presence of the Sigma Agency in his entourage, which could alter his amateur status.
Everybody is losing at the moment: the player, the team in which he grew up and all Italian hoops.
Twitter of the author: @theref140386
Photo: pianetabasket.com
