WSU lands commitment from Wake Forest transfer Sebastian Akins

PULLMAN - Washington State might have its next point guard.

The Cougars have landed a commitment from Wake Forest transfer Sebastian Akins, he announced on social media Thursday, giving them a scoring punch and an important reinforcement from the transfer portal.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Akins started his career at Denver before playing last season at Wake Forest, where he averaged 5.3 points in 15.2 minutes per game. A starter in eight games, Akins shot an efficient 51% on 2-pointers last season with the Demon Deacons.

Akins, the Summit League Freshman of the Year in his one season at Denver, is the fifth pledge of the offseason for WSU coach David Riley, whose staff has also secured commitments from TCU transfer guard RJ Jones, Central Missouri transfer guard Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer forward Fraser Roxburgh and East Texas A&M transfer wing Ronnie Harrison, the last of whom announced his decision on Wednesday.

Akins spent much of last season as a backup, but when lead guard Nate Calmese (who spent the 2024-25 season at WSU) was injured, Akins filled in. One of four Demon Deacons to appear in all 35 games, Akins scored 14 points in an ACC Tournament win over Virginia Tech. He also tallied a season-best 16 points in a win over Clemson, which went on to make the NCAA Tournament, plus 12 points against then-No. 24 Louisville.

Akins looks like a sharp ball-handler and efficient finisher at the rim, but he doesn't appear to be much of a threat from beyond the arc. On the season, Akins connected on only 18% of his 3-pointers, taking about 1.4 per game. His numbers were a bit better at Denver, where he converted 30% of his triples, taking an average of three per contest.

At Denver, Akins started 10 of 32 games, averaging 12.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He shot 42% from the field that season, following that with a 40% mark at Wake Forest last year.

With Akins joining the Cougars, their 2026-27 team now includes nine players: Akins, Harrison, Houston, Roxburgh, Jones, Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones (who spent the last two years on a church mission), incoming freshman Brayden Kyman and returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.

Akins' addition will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: Key players Ace Glass, Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho, ND Okafor, Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers, reserve guards Parker Gerrits, Brunel Madzou and Kase Wynott and forward Emmanuel Ugbo, the last of whom was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.

The Cougars are also losing point guard Adria Rodriguez, who is headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, as well as Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his college eligibility. In all, that's 12 departures for the Cougars, who are set to return only two players from last season's team: Robinson, who redshirted his true freshman season, and Blakely.

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