Groce, Akron Dive Into Indiana To Pick Up Ali Ali
One of the biggest names this July was that of East Noble (IN) wing Ali Ali who was finding ways to shine throughout the entire month. He’s a prized recruit to those that believe in his upside because he is one of the more diverse and upside-high talents in the state. And on Wednesday he found his home as Akron and John Groce landed his services.
Ali, a 6’8 forward, had a number of options from a few different levels but Akron was the highest level offer he had. They were joined by Indianapolis, East Mississippi C.C., Eastern Florida, Dodge City C.C., Huntington, IU-East, Davenport, Missouri Southern State.
The reason for his rise this summer was his play on the ball. At 6’8, he’s very agile and has some athletic ability that allows him to begin to make show stopping plays. He can take you off the bounce a bit or dribble into a pull-up on the wing. At his size, he has the ability to fine tune that ball handling and play more of a wing or stretch forward role at the next level.
He’s not really a guy that is going to be an elite player in the sense that he can drop 30+ points in a game but he is a guy that can contribute at a high level across the board. He’s wired to impact the game in so many different ways that he could be a guy that has double-doubles and dish out a ton of assists while still racking up rebounds and blocked shots.
For Ali and playing in the MAC, it will keep him in the Midwest and around his home in Northeast Indiana with stops at Toledo, Miami (OH), Ball State, Ohio, and Kent State. He should find some success in there as he develops, and that is keep. His development will be interesting because a lot of what he will bring is upside. A redshirt year would make some sense as he tries to fine tune his ball handling and add some more strength. Rather sit a year now to gain as much upside before he graduates and moves onto the next level.
In all, he’s got the skills and frame to be an impact player in the MAC but time will tell the story as his development continues and game becomes more refined.