Akwasi Yeboah is not shy about the goals he set for his final season of college basketball. The Stony Brook graduate transfer wants to return to the NCAA Tournament, where he watched his Seawolves teammates take on Kentucky while he redshirted as a freshman, and get exposure for a professional career in the process. Upon electing to grad transfer out of Long Island, Yeboah had a number of high-major suitors that provided him a chance at achieving those objectives.

On Thursday, he announced his decision — Yeboah committed to Rutgers and Steve Pikiell, the man he watched lead the Seawolves to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

“I’ve seen how the trajectory of the program since Pikiell’s been there,” Yeboah said. “I’ve known Pikiell since I was recruited as a senior high school, so it made the decision a little easier just because I know what I’m getting myself into and he knows what he’s getting out of me, too.

“I want to test myself and challenge myself at a high level, because at the end of the day, I want to play professionally. To do that, you have to play against the best. (My relationship with coach Pikiell) definitely had an impact but at the end of the day, I was looking at what was the best for me, and it ended up being Rutgers.”

After witnessing the final leg of Pikiell’s remarkable build at Stony Brook up close, Yeboah watched his former head coach rebuild Rutgers from afar. He saw a program that went 1-17 in Big Ten play the year before he arrived challenge the big boys of the best conference in the country by his third season. Yeboah saw Rutgers win seven Big Ten games and pull off multiple ranked upsets last season.

It confirmed what he knew about Pikiell all along.

“He’s a winner,” Yeboah said of Pikiell. “He’s a great coach, he knows how to put people in the right position to be successful. He did a great job with Stony Brook, turned in into a winning program and he’s made significant improvement and changes to the Rutgers program so I like the trajectory of the program.”

Basketball was the main factor in the decision, but there were other factors at play.

When he visited Piscataway early in the process, he felt welcome.

“It felt like a family atmosphere,” he said of Rutgers. “Everyone was really cool and welcoming and they were very supportive in terms of me as a person and not just a basketball player. They were talking about life after basketball and stuff like that. That was really important for me knowing that they care about me just on the basketball court, but as a person and as a human.”

He was impressed with the academics offered by the University. He met with Dr. (Raphael) Caprio of the School of Planning and Public Policy, who serves as the director of the Master of Health Administration Program, about the graduate program.

“It was good to see the balance between the academics and the basketball,” he said. “My family, friends and close ones, we talked about what’s my best fit and what school has my best interest. I talked to them and made sure we know what’s right for myself and my future and my family (and Rutgers was it).”

On the court, Yeboah was the man at Stony Brook last season.

He played the highest number of minutes (76 percent), took the most shots (30 percent), led the Seawolves in scoring (16.7 points per game), rebounding (7.7 per game) and free throw percentage (79 percent). Yeboah was the unquestionable leader of the program.

He now walks into a team littered with depth, with established players and an emerging young core. Yeboah went from a big fish in a small pond to a pool of equally distributed talent. There was no guarantees given to Yeboah on a starting spot, number of minutes played, the size of his role.

“That will come along with the season,” Yeboah said. “I’ll let you guys see how it goes.”

Individual goals were not mapped out in a point total or a rebound mark. The only specifics came in the singular team goal Yeboah points to in his final collegiate season.

“Make it to the NCAA Tournament,” Yeboah said. “I want to gain the exposure that I need and finish my college career on a high note. Just come in and train right away and be an impact. I want to be an impact guy right away, be a leader for the younger guys on the team.”

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