The Nebraska men's basketball team has its third in-state star in the fold.
Creighton Prep senior Akol Arop on Tuesday night announced his commitment to the Huskers, giving head coach Tim Miles the top in-state recruits from the 2018, 2019 and 2020 recruiting classes.
First of all I would like to thank God, my family and coaches for their support. Also want to thank all of coaches for taking their to time to recruit me. I am proud to announce that I will be continuing my faith, academic and basketball career at Nebraska Lincoln!⚪ï¸ðŸ”´ðŸŒ½
— Akol Arop (@akol_33)
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Arop's commitment comes about six weeks after 2020 guard Donovan Williams of Lincoln North Star pledged to play for the Huskers. Platteview's Brady Heiman is a freshman for the Huskers this season.
Arop officially visited Nebraska last weekend. He officially visited Tulsa in August, and Drake on Sept. 21. NU assistant Michael Lewis was the lead recruiter on Arop.
A 6-foot-6 forward who played AAU ball this summer for the Omaha Sports Academy Crusaders 17U squad, Arop averaged 16 points, 9.7 rebounds and shot 66 percent from the field in leading the Creighton Prep to the Class A state championship in March.Â
"It just felt really great. I was overwhelmed and blessed," Arop said after first receiving an offer from Miles over the summer. "I think Nebraska is starting to notice that the in-state kids are really good."
Arop was really good in the Adidas Gauntlet event this summer in New York City, averaging 20 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Omaha Sports Academy 17U team in three games. He shot nearly 68 percent from the field, and 60 percent from three-point range.
And he validated his improvement to a Nebraska staff that nearly offered him in the spring before deciding to wait to see how he developed over the summer.
"It's been a great process. Just having the opportunity to play against the best players in the country and the best teams, it's really something," Arop said. "The OSA team, we've been doing really good. We've been putting ourselves on the map."
Arop was a critical piece of Creighton Prep's 26-1 Class A state title team in 2017-18, two years after older brother Aguek led Omaha South to the Class A championship.
Aguek Arop, a two-time Super-Stater, committed to Nebraska four years ago as a sophomore in high school only to de-commit when he was a senior. He later reopened his recruitment before attending prep school last year and earning a scholarship to San Diego State.
"It's great, because we've both worked hard for this moment in our lives," Akol said. "We've come a long way."
Arop's commitment means Nebraska has one open scholarship remaining in the 2019 class. The Huskers added 2019 guards Mika Adams-Woods and Jervay Green on back-to-back days in late September.
The Huskers hope they aren't done adding local flavor. NU has offers out to 2021 guards Chucky Hepburn of Bellevue West and Hunter Sallis of Millard North.