Class Of 2027 Prospect Akol Nyok Commits To Marquette Men’s Basketball

Marquette men's basketball and head coach Shaka Smart have picked up a new commitment for the Class of 2027. Akol Nyok has joined Marlon Martinez and Philipe Ndong as the future of the Golden Eagles.

247 Sports lists Nyok as a 7'1", 205 pound center. He attends Columbus High School, which is in Miami, Florida. 247 rates Nyok as a four-star prospect and ranks him at #101 in their internal system. He's #103 in the 247 Sports Composite rankings, and the 13th best center prospect in the country. On3/Rivals matches the four-star rating and ranks Nyok waaaaaay up at #70 internally. That boost him up to #92 in the Rivals Industry rankings, which is their version of a composite ranking. ESPN has him somewhere outside the top 100 as they don't rank Nyok, but he is a four-star prospect in their eyes. ESPN also says he's the 13th best center prospect in the country, and since they have 12 centers in the top 100 , Nyok can't be that far outside the top 100, right?

Based on the last few things listed on Nyok's 247 Sports page , it would seem that this recruitment came down to Marquette and Virginia Tech. He visited the Golden Eagles back in late July and then stopped off in Blacksburg in mid-September . Those are his only two visits logged going back to October 2023, and they came amidst scholarship offers from Michigan State and Maryland. That list isn't perfect of course, as our friends over at A Sea Of Blue noted Kentucky offering Nyok a scholarship back in early September .

If you wanted to be a particular way about it, you could absolutely say that Marquette just beat out Kentucky on the recruiting trail.

Nyok is an extremely mobile seven-footer with glaring defensive tools. He runs the floor like a gazelle, is a quality rim protector (1.6 per game in Pro16 play), and can also guard on the perimeter. He's unusually twitchy for a player his size, enabling him to react quickly as plays evolve, and be very versatile, both in terms of ball-screen coverages and even being somewhat switchable. Nyok is also a very good help defender who tracks the ball throughout the possession and is proactive helping, instead of just waiting for the ball at the rim. That's part of why he's not a more impactful defensive rebounder (4.1 per game), but his lack of strength and inconsistent hands also play a part. Physically, he's very lean right now and not only needs to build-up his body, but also prove his durability. His offense is behind his defense right now and a lot of that boils down to hands and balance as well. It's not that he shies away from contact – In fact, he's actually a willing screener, not just on the ball but even with Gortats against would-be help-side defenders – but that he struggles to hold his ground when his base isn't under him. He's a definite rim-runner and vertical spacer, but otherwise ends up laying balls in he should dunk because of questionable timing and an inconsistent ability to grab, and hold onto, balls. He is, however, a very active offensive rebounder (3.9 per game), but not a scoring threat away from the basket. He's not only a low percentage free-throw shooter (53%), but gets their seldomly (1.9 attempts per game). The bottom line is that Nyok needs time to build-up his frame and improve his hands, but he has the size, mobility, and motor to be a major factor on the defensive end of the floor and simultaneously a specific offensive niche as a rim-runner and lob threat.

Nyok is an extremely mobile seven-footer with glaring defensive tools. He runs the floor like a gazelle, is a quality rim protector (1.6 per game in Pro16 play), and can also guard on the perimeter. He's unusually twitchy for a player his size, enabling him to react quickly as plays evolve, and be very versatile, both in terms of ball-screen coverages and even being somewhat switchable. Nyok is also a very good help defender who tracks the ball throughout the possession and is proactive helping, instead of just waiting for the ball at the rim. That's part of why he's not a more impactful defensive rebounder (4.1 per game), but his lack of strength and inconsistent hands also play a part. Physically, he's very lean right now and not only needs to build-up his body, but also prove his durability.

His offense is behind his defense right now and a lot of that boils down to hands and balance as well. It's not that he shies away from contact – In fact, he's actually a willing screener, not just on the ball but even with Gortats against would-be help-side defenders – but that he struggles to hold his ground when his base isn't under him. He's a definite rim-runner and vertical spacer, but otherwise ends up laying balls in he should dunk because of questionable timing and an inconsistent ability to grab, and hold onto, balls. He is, however, a very active offensive rebounder (3.9 per game), but not a scoring threat away from the basket. He's not only a low percentage free-throw shooter (53%), but gets their seldomly (1.9 attempts per game).

The bottom line is that Nyok needs time to build-up his frame and improve his hands, but he has the size, mobility, and motor to be a major factor on the defensive end of the floor and simultaneously a specific offensive niche as a rim-runner and lob threat.

Here's 7 minutes of highlights that just got posted in early September.

And now, the brand new scholarship/roster chart, and then a discussion of what you're seeing in there.

See the big ol' red line in between Philipe Ndong and Akol Nyok? That's because Marquette currently projects to have 16 players on their roster in 2027-28, and the roster limit is 15. The Golden Eagles currently project as one over the limit, and I want to be clear about this: I don't care about the fact that they're projecting as not having enough space for the players on the roster to return and the freshmen to come aboard next summer.

What I care about is the fact that we can all look at the 2025-26 season and the 2026-27 roster and see at least three players that we can all have zero expectation to contribute to the Golden Eagles in 26-27 and also have eligibility to return for 2027-28. I don't know why they're on the roster now, and the fact that head coach Shaka Smart is accepting Nyok's commitment means he already knows they're not going to be here next year. If we're pretty comfortable with the idea that they can't contribute now AND they won't be here next year, why are they here now?

Two of the players I'm referring to have eligibility that extends into the 2028-29 season, and you will notice that Marquette does not project to have an open roster spot in that campaign either as a result of Nyok's commitment. Again, I don't care about that aspect of it. I care about dragging around players that don't have a present value to the program and the program is very clearly signaling that they don't have a future, either. This is all going to get settled one way or another, and by the time we tip off in November 2027, none of this will matter.

But for now, in October 2026, we have to ask serious questions about how things are being managed.

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