19-year-old Nigerian student-athlete Bright Akhuetie has been nursing a nagging knee injury throughout the start of the NCAA Season.
In his first game of the season, Akhuetie tallied 19 points and eight rebounds as the Altas leaned on him in their win over the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers last July 1. “I’m just 40 percent right now,” the Altas big man admitted.
The 13-day break the league took to make way for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament benefited the injury-plagued Altas the most. The long break served its purpose, as Perpetual were finally able to field a complete line-up, resulting in the Altas’ second win of the season.
“I’m okay to play, that’s all I can say, I’m just okay to play,” said Akhuetie, who scored 20 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, after the game.
The Nigerian student-athlete shared that he had taken a seven day break from practice to prepare himself for three straight days of hard work.
“I stayed out for a week and three days and back to practice,” he shared.
“I think I practiced for like three days straight now ’cause I had to rest after the first game.”
When asked about Perpetual’s next tilt against the San Bedan frontline of Donald Tankoua and Arnaud Noah, Akhuetie reminded that the focus should not solely be on the big man match-up.
“It’s just basketball and it’s five on five,” he said. “They’re a good team so we can’t just feel like they don’t have Ola [Adeogun] anymore. They have other guys like Noah and [Davon] Potts.”
