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Press Box Dave Reardon |
Would Tony have
made a difference?TONY Akpan was happy to hear Hawaii's NIT game at Utah State is on television today -- happy like any other UH student would be who has friends on the team and wants to see them in action one more time.
As for second thoughts about leaving hoops for football, the former Rainbows forward from Nigeria said he has none after a year away from the hardwood and a brief and bitter return to the basket 'Bows after football ended.
"Right from the day Riley Wallace kicked me off I made up my mind I want to be a football player. I don't miss basketball. I enjoy watching my friends play, but I have no regrets," he said yesterday. "I'm a football player now."
There are those who think Akpan might have made a big difference for the Rainbows this season -- that with his powerful 6-foot-8 presence, they'd be in the NCAA Tournament instead of the Little Sock Hop right now.
It is true Akpan was on his way to becoming a good college basketball player when he decided to take up football. But it is not a given he would have been significantly better than Jeff Blackett and Paul Jesinskis, the front-court reserves whose minutes he'd have cut into this season -- "significantly better" being defined as making the difference between winning and losing at least one game. And the Rainbows needed to win more than one additional game to be somewhere other than Logan, Utah, today.
While it is no secret that football coach June Jones and Wallace don't see eye-to-eye on just a few hotly debatable topics, such as the color of the sky, both seem to genuinely care about Akpan's future.
Wallace didn't cut Akpan loose for spite when he showed up after football season. He did it because the guy had bulked up so much he couldn't make a layup, and he knows Akpan has a better shot at a future in pro football than basketball.
It didn't help public perception that another basketball player, Ikaika Alama-Francis, jumped ship for football shortly after Akpan. But the Rainbows might not have lost Alama-Francis to the Warriors if he'd had a scholarship in the first place.
As he did in basketball, Akpan quickly became a fan favorite in football, even though he didn't play much last fall.
Charisma, however, won't get you into the NFL -- or the Warriors' starting lineup, for that matter.
Akpan knows that, and he puts in the work. Skeptics abound, but defensive line coach Vantz Singletary has joined Jones among the believers in Akpan's chance for future Freak-like stardom as a pass-rushing defensive end.
Akpan and Singletary bonded quickly, and Singletary calls him "my new son." Akpan says he respects Singletary "because he's honest and he tells you what you need to do."
Another key man in Akpan's development is strength coach Mel deLaura.
"I like lifting with him. I never lifted before, but I go in there and do what he asks me to do. They don't have to look for me," Akpan said. "I feel confident, I feel great. I'm up to 270 (pounds) right now. I'm willing to do anything to make me a better football player. I'm willing to sacrifice."
So will Akpan watch the game on TV today?
"If I'm not in class, yeah," he said. "They're still all my friends. All friends, but I respect Haim (Shimonovich) the most, a great guy, awesome person. And Bobby Nash, a nice guy. And Phil Martin, my friend since I first came here."
And they all understand this:
When Akpan was a kid in Nigeria, basketball was his ticket to America.
Football, though, might be his ticket to the American Dream.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail him at dreardon@starbulletin.com