Local hoopster can’t wait to take game to New Orleans

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This article was published 14/04/2021 (1618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Daniel Sackey wanted a fresh start. Luckily for him, the timing couldn’t be better.

It’s been reported the NCAA Division 1 council passed a vote on Wednesday that will give college athletes one free pass to transfer to a different school without having to sit out an entire season. Previously, football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and men’s hockey transfers were forced to miss a year of game action before being allowed to suit up with a new team.

Sackey, a 22-year-old guard from Winnipeg who spent the past three seasons playing college hoops in Indiana for the Valparaiso Crusaders, announced Tuesday he’s taking his talents to the University of New Orleans Privateers. Since the 2020 NCAA tournament was cancelled and this season had its fair share of challenges, the NCAA has given winter-sports athletes an extra year of eligibility, meaning Sackey can play two seasons in New Orleans.

“Oh yeah, it definitely played a huge factor knowing I don’t have to sit out,” Sackey told the Free Press Wednesday night. He’ll remain at Valparaiso until the school year is over and will then return home to Winnipeg before flying out to New Orleans in June.

“I think a lot of other guys that would’ve altered their decision. It was a weight off my shoulders knowing I wouldn’t have to redshirt a year and that I can play right away.”

Sackey is one of seven Valpo players who entered the transfer portal. The 5-9 product out of Thornlea Prep said there’s no bad blood between the players, nor does he have any hard feelings towards the school. For Sackey, he felt he needed to go somewhere that better suited his style of play.

“The way (New Orleans) plays, they’re more fast-paced. Their conference is more fast-paced and up and down, kind of similar to my game… Defensively, they’re more up-tempo, pressing, and stuff like that. That definitely fits better toward me and I think I can excel better in that offence and in that program and be better off than where I’m at right now. I gained a really good relationship with (New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger). He actually recruited me out of high school, so I’ve known coach Sless for a while now,” said Sackey.

The Crusaders struggled this season and Sackey would tell you that so did he. After making the Missouri Valley Conference championship game in 2019, Valpo took a big step back this year, losing in the first round of playoffs and finishing the season with a 10-18 record. Sackey started 22 games and averaged 5.3 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game to go along with a team-high 31 steals. It’s shooting the ball where he struggled. He shot 33.8 per cent from the field and only made 6 of 41 three-point attempts.

The team had several positive COVID-19 cases before their first game, forcing Valpo to enter the season coming off of a quarantine.

“When we got out of quarantine, we had three or four days of practice and then we were playing games already,” he said.

“COVID definitely hit us pretty hard. It made it hard to get into a groove as a team and individually. Overall, it was a really tough year with COVID… To be honest with you, I’m not happy with my season at all. I feel like it was a very rough year for me and it’s definitely disappointing considering how we ended off last year… I got a lot of work to do this off-season.”

New Orleans, a member of the Southland Conference, went 10-15 last year. Their conference champion was Abilene Christian, which made some noise in the NCAA tournament by knocking off a No. 3 seed in the Texas Longhorns. Sackey has yet to experience March Madness and the Privateers haven’t qualified for the big dance since 2017.

“It’s definitely motivation. Every time I’m sitting in my chair watching an (NCAA tournament) game, I was thinking ‘Man, I have to get there.’ You know, by any means necessary to get there. It’s definitely 100 per cent motivation,” Sackey said.

A transfer did wonders for another Winnipeg native in Emmanuel Akot. In the middle of Akot’s sophomore season for the Arizona Wildcats in 2018-19, he announced he was moving on to play for Boise State. Transfer rules kept him off the court in 2020, but the 6-8 guard/forward made up for lost time this year and put up career numbers across the board for the Broncos.

Sackey reached out to his longtime friend Akot for advice when he entered the transfer portal last month.

He’s hoping a change in scenery will have a similar positive impact on his career.

“I’m definitely excited to start somewhere new, especially in New Orleans which is one of the greatest cities in America… I can’t wait to get to work,” Sackey said.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31