LOGAN — Although Jerrod Calhoun was basically an unknown quantity in the West when he was hired by Utah State last spring, Dexter Akanno felt strongly that it was worth the risk to transfer from Oregon State to USU to play for the Aggies’ new coach.
And thanks to the Aggies winning the first 10 games of Calhoun’s tenure, it definitely looks like the right move for the Valencia, California, native. Especially considering that’s basically a season’s worth of victories for Akanno’s previous college basketball career in less than two months of action.
“Players that have good years, they play to their strengths, and his strength is catching and shooting the basketball,” Calhoun says of Akanno, who spent three years at OSU after redshirting and playing one season at Marquette. “So, we talked to him about coming to Utah State and being a more efficient player, and with efficiency comes winning.”
Calhoun continues, “If you look at the history where he’s been, he averaged 10 wins a year for four years? Like 40 wins. One year they only won three. So, I think his teammates, and I think this place — Utah State and Logan — has been really good to him.”
“And we were really lucky to get him,” Calhoun adds.
Because the Aggies very nearly didn’t.
After Calhoun was lured away from Youngstown State, he initially managed to retain the services of the talented perimeter trio of Mason Falslev, Ian Martinez and Josh Uduje, who all played prominent roles for a USU team that won 28 games in 2023-24; however, Uduje changed his mind very late in the spring transfer period and ended up transferring to San Jose State.
“Players that have good years, they play to their strengths, and his strength is catching and shooting the basketball. So, we talked to him about coming to Utah State and being a more efficient player, and with efficiency comes winning.”
— Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun on Dexter Akanno
Fortunately, Calhoun and his staff had previously been pursing Akanno, who was third on the Beavers in scoring during the 2023-24 season, averaging 10.9 points per game while making 25 starts.
“When Uduje went into the portal at like the 24th hour of that portal, we had already told Dexter Akanno that we were moving on because Josh Uduje was coming back,” Calhoun notes. “So, for Dex to see the loyalty, and for us to really try and get back in there and re-recruit him paid off.”
Calhoun continues with a slight smile, “You know, his mom (Mercy Eze) tells me all the time she didn’t want him to come here, and now she thinks it was the best decision of his life. She really didn’t want him to come because we told him we were moving in another direction, right? But that’s how crazy the portal can be.”
Akanno, who was also being sought after by the likes of San Diego State, UNLV, USC and UC Santa Barbara, says when he made his visit to Utah State, “I could immediately tell that there was a spark here.”
“Then I discussed my decision with my with mom, prayed on it, and talked about it with the people that had some kind of stake in my decision,” Akanno adds. “And we just thought this would be the best fit for me.”
The 24-year-old Akanno, who was raised in Southern California with his older sisters, Chine and Chioma, says he’s always relied heavily on the input of his mother. Mercy Eze, a native of Nigeria, came to the United States as a teenager, and is well known throughout the Valencia area for her spiritual convictions, community service and efforts at a health clinic as a family nurse practitioner.
“She’s a hard worker; she works two, sometimes three jobs,” Akanno says of his mother. “I’ve always looked up to her and tried to have that same kind of work ethic on a day-to-day basis. She came here when she was very young — only 16 or 17 — and I never really understood how astonishing that was until I took into account what I was doing at 16 or 17.”
Dexter, who completed a communications degree at Oregon State and is now pursuing a master’s in sports management at USU, is actually Akanno’s middle name. His first name is Chilu … kind of.
“It’s Nigerian, and it’s actually longer than Chilu; it’s cut down,” Akanno explains. “I started using Dexter when I started playing basketball because people couldn’t pronounce my first name, and I’ve stuck with Dexter.”
Just 5-foot-7 as a freshman in high school, Akanno is now listed at 6-5 and 210 pounds. After averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a senior at Valencia High in 2017-18, Akanno spent a year at Blair Academy in New Jersey. He says being that far away from home at the age of 17 was difficult, but the new environment helped him “learn more about himself,” and having basically nothing but basketball and school to focus on ended up being a positive as he eyed the start of his collegiate career.
Akanno, who picked up scholarship offers from the likes of Virginia Tech and New Mexico, decided to sign with Marquette and Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski. He redshirted in 2019-20 for a team that went 18-12, then saw action in 12 games in 2020-21. The Golden Eagles finished 13-14 that year, good for just ninth place in the Big East, and Wojciechowski, currently the head coach of the NBA G League Salt Lake City Stars, was fired after seven seasons.
That led to Akanno transferring to Oregon State and spending the next three years playing for Wayne Tinkle, who played for longtime USU head coach Stew Morrill at Montana. But while in Milwaukee, Akanno did get to know Koby McEwen, a highly recruited prep guard who played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Utah State before moving onto Marquette after former Aggie coach Tim Duryea was fired.
“I did talk to him before making my decision knowing that he had been here,” Akanno says of McEwen, who wrapped up his collegiate career at Weber State in 2021-22. “So, I talked to him about the community of Logan. It was different back then, but there are similar characteristics to Cache Valley now with hard-working people and people that like to win here.”
After seeing limited playing time at Marquette, Akanno saw very significant action in his three seasons at Oregon State, starting 68 out of 91 games. He admits that his sophomore year in 2021-22 was a bit “rocky” as he averaged just 4.9 points and shot 37.4% for the season. But Akanno showed what he was capable of as a junior against in-state rival Oregon, leading the Beavers in scoring with 20 and 17 points in two OSU losses.
Akanno, who put up a career-high 22 points against UCLA as a senior, averaged nearly 29 minutes per game for an Oregon State team that finished last in the Pac-12 and 13-19 overall. He says getting to play close to home in front of his family against the likes of UCLA and USC was “God’s blessing,” but decided to use his COVID-19 year to seek out a winning opportunity elsewhere and put his name in the transfer portal in early April 2024. It wasn’t until May 19 that his agent let it be known Akanno was coming to Utah State to play for Calhoun and a team that includes 7-foot forward Isaac Johnson, who played at Oregon in 2021-22.
“That’s been fun,” Akanno says of being teammates with Johnson. “We always talk about our Pac-12 days and coming from a different conference with a different style of play. We’re always comparing players we’re going up against with players and teams that we saw back in the Pac-12.”
While Akanno played the two and three spots at Oregon State — and occasionally even stepped in at point guard — his role thus far with the Aggies has been stepping in at the two, three and four in Calhoun’s offense. He’s made two starts thus far, but usually is one of the first Aggies off the bench, averaging 22.0 minutes, 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
“Just trying to make the right play every time that I’m on the court. And I’m glad that Coach (Calhoun) feels like he’s able to trust me in different situations.”
— USU guard Dexter Akanno
“I don’t really care what position I play, especially in this offense,” Akanno says. “All of the guard spots are really interchangeable. Just doing whatever I can to help this team win is my main goal. … Scoring, providing energy, rebounding. Just trying to make the right play every time that I’m on the court. And I’m glad that Coach (Calhoun) feels like he’s able to trust me in different situations.
Thus far, Akanno is shooting a career-best 43.2% from the field, while going 11 for 31 (35.5%) from 3-point range and knocking down 81% of his free throws. In his final season at Oregon State, he shot 39% from the floor, 32.5% from 3-point range and just 70% from the free-throw line, so he’s definitely been more efficient offensively.
“My coaches have been doing a very good job of helping me understand what I’m good at, and what I’m bad at and need to work on,” Akanno says. “So, I think focusing on and honing the skills that I’m really good had led to my jump in efficiency.”
After becoming the first Utah State team in school history to win its first 10 games of the season, the Aggies suffered their first taste of defeat on Dec. 17, when UC San Diego pulled off a stunning, 75-73 victory at the Spectrum. Akanno had a rough outing that night, going just 1 for 7 from the floor and scoring two points in 25 minutes.
But as Utah State heads into Mountain West play, the Aggies will need more production from their graduate guard. The one was who was named to the NIT Season Tip-Off All-Tournament Team in late November and scored 16 points in just 19 minutes against Utah Tech on Dec. 7.
And Calhoun is confident Akanno will come through when needed.
“This young man is a good player,” he declares. “I think he’s going to have a long pro career. He’s just a good person who listens and is really easy to coach.”
