Akin and Eytle-Rock: Friends from London to Logan
Most Utah State Men’s Basketball players challenge each other in the basketball video game NBA2k in their free time off the court, but forward Dan Akin and guard RJ Eytle–Rock compete in FIFA, a soccer video game. It’s one characteristic that hangs over from their British backgrounds.
“We be playing FIFA all night,” Eytle–Rock said. “We definitely have our battles — like, the house gets loud sometimes.”
Both claim to be the best at the game, but it’s clear the rivalry has gone back and forth — Akin said Eytle–Rock doesn’t let him play as FC Bayern Munich anymore because he always won.
Their soccer rivalry isn’t confined to the virtual pitch, though. Both support different London–based Premier League clubs, with Akin backing Chelsea F.C. and Eytle–Rock cheering on Arsenal F.C.
But while they may be rivals in soccer, they’ve played basketball together for nearly a decade, and their friendship shines on the court.
Back in 2017, Akin was playing his final high school season at Barking Abbey in London. He and Eytle–Rock were both being recruited by then–UMBC head coach Ryan Odom. To show how seriously he wanted the players, Odom flew out to London.
“He was like the only guy that came to London,” Akin said. “To me, that meant like, OK, he really wants me to play for him if he’s going to fly out.”
The trip worked, and Akin signed with UMBC. He started contributing immediately — during his freshman campaign, he averaged 3.5 points and 3.4 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Eytle–Rock, who was a year younger than Akin, decided to go to prep school in New Jersey for a year. He suffered an injury and was sidelined most of the season, but he watched Akin score the first basket of UMBC’s historic upset of Virginia in the 2018 NCAA tournament.
“He won’t let me forget that,” Eytle–Rock said, laughing. “I was just happy for Dan as well because that was his first year.”
Seeing the Retrievers’ success in March Madness made Eytle–Rock glad he had committed to play for them the following season.
“I was just like, ‘Wow, that’s really where I’m going next,’” Eytle–Rock said.
Starting the next season, Eytle–Rock joined Akin for three years at UMBC.
After the 2020–21 season, both players had a big decision to make when Odom took the head coaching job at USU. Eytle–Rock followed Odom to Logan, and Akin blazed his own path to Cal Baptist.
“I wanted to do something different, and obviously, California was different,” Akin said. “I had a great experience there.”
For the Lancers, Akin averaged 10.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, good enough for second in the Western Athletic Conference in rebounding.
Their friendship withstood the season apart, the first time since Eytle–Rock went to UMBC that the pair didn’t play together. They said they texted each other to check in on how the other’s games had gone.
“We have a good little brotherhood going on,” Akin said.
But, after a season in the Golden State, Akin decided he was ready for another change.
After Cal Baptist lost in the first round of the CBI Tournament, Akin announced he was entering the transfer portal for a second time. This time around, Akin was ready to rejoin his old coaches and Eytle–Rock.
“Being familiar with coaches helps, and then knowing someone on the team helps a lot with the transition coming to the team,” Akin said. “So it wasn’t a completely new team.”
Eytle–Rock felt Akin coming to USU was a given, but that didn’t stop Akin from “playing around” with Eytle–Rock’s emotions until he confirmed he was coming to Logan.
“Finally, you made up your mind,” Eytle–Rock said. “We can just get back to doing what we were doing, and then it’s kind of just like a relief.”
Now reunited as roommates, they continue to have a shared understanding of what it’s like to be in a completely different world from where they grew up.
“We can just look at each other and just know what’s up,” Akin said. “That’s really good to have.”
Akin and Eytle–Rock maintain their British brotherhood while also developing new friendships with other teammates, including the fellow European players on the team: guard Max Shulga from Ukraine and center Szymon Zapala from Poland.
Their American teammates are also rubbing off on them, which was made clear when they were asked which other USU team they would play for if they did not play basketball. They both said American football. Eytle–Rock would be a quarterback “throwing dimes,” while Akin thinks he would be a “pretty good DB.”
Now, as the Aggies enter Mountain West Conference play, Akin looks forward to guarding the likes of Wyoming forward Graham Ike and San Diego State forward Nathan Mensah.
“I’m excited to play against really good players and see what I can do against them,” Akin said.
Akin added that the Aggies plan to shock the conference after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason media poll.
“They’re going to wake up when they see us play,” Akin said.
Featured image by Sam Warner from the UVU game.