West Virginia forward Akok Akok cleared to play vs Pittsburgh

The West Virginia Mountaineers men’s basketball squad is taking on their rivals out of the ACC, the Pittsburgh Panthers, on Wednesday night in the Backyard Brawl. And the news has just broken that the Mountaineers are getting the services of fifth-year forward Akok Akok back just in time for this massive contest.

According to West Virginia men’s basketball, Akok has been cleared to play in Wednesday night rivalry throwdown.

This will be the first time the former Hoya takes the floor as a Mountaineer in a regular season game. Akok has been slowly making his way back after a frightening health scare late in October. Akok collapsed during West Virginia’s scrimmage against George Mason on October 29. While attempting to make his way back to the Mountaineers bench, he went down on the court, where he was quickly tended to by the medical staff in the building.

According to The Voice of Motown, Akok attempted to get up, but remained on the court while the EMTs came out. He later left on a stretcher after the staff tended to him for some time, according to Metro News’ Greg Carey. Play was set to resume five minutes after he left the court.

The Mountaineers and Patriots were playing in a charity exhibition with proceeds benefitting the WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital.

West Virginia has had a rough start to the 2023-2024 season as they currently have a 3-4 record. Their last game was a home loss to St. John’s 79-73. West Virginia’s Achilles heel in the game was their shooting from the field. The mountaineers finished 19-48 with a 39.6 field goal percentage compared to the Red Storm’s 42 percent. A win in Wednesday night’s matchup against Pittsburgh will go a long way into West Virginia, keeping their hopes of a tournament birth at the end of the season.

More on Akok

Akok is preparing for his first season with West Virginia after transferring from Georgetown. With the Hoyas last year, he averaged 6.5 points and 6.2 rebounds before entering the transfer portal and making his way to Morgantown.

Out of Putnam Science Academy (CT), Akok was a four-star recruit and the No. 70-ranked prospect in the nation from the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Akok was part of a loaded transfer class for West Virginia this year, which started under former coach Bob Huggins and largely stuck around after Josh Eilert took the reins. The Mountaineers brought in the best group of transfers in the country, according to the On3 College Basketball Team Transfer Portal Rankings, with eight players coming to town via the portal.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article