Cowboys add D2 All-American guard Akuel Kot
LARAMIE -- Jeff Linder loves guys who can shoot the ball.
He found just that in Akuel Kot.
The 6-foot-2, 165-pound guard connected on 52% of his shots and averaged 23.4 points per game last season while leading Fort Lewis College (Colo.,) to an RMAC Tournament championship. The Amarillo, Texas, product inked with Wyoming Tuesday, becoming the sixth recruit to sign with the Cowboys in as many days.
Kot, whose first name is pronounced uh-Quail, was named a First-Team All-American and twice earned All-Conference honors during his four-year career at the Division II school in Durango. Kot was also the MVP of the RMAC Tournament last March.
He has one season of eligibility remaining.
Linder and Co. still have four available scholarships after securing high school prospects Kael Combs and Nigle Cook, along with transfers Oleg Kojenets (Nebraska), Kobe Newton (Fullerton College), Mason Walters (Jamestown).
Brendan Wenzel, Caden Powell and Kenny Foster are the only three players remaining from the 2022-23 roster.
The Cowboys finished the season 9-21 overall and were bounced from the Mountain West Tournament in the opening round. After that loss to New Mexico, Noah Reynolds, Nate Barnhart, Jeremiah Oden, Nathanial Talich, Xavier DuSell and the league's preseason Player of the Year, Graham Ike, entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Jake Kyman, Max Agbonkpolo and Ethan Anderson -- all first-year recruits from the Pac-12 Conference -- left the team in early February.
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Kot's scoring output last season was the fourth most in DII. He netted 20 or more points in 20 games and eclipsed the 30-point mark eight times. In a game against Texas Permian Basin in November, Kot scored a career-high 45 points. He set a Fort Lewis record with 801 points during the 2022-23 campaign.
“Akuel Kot is absolutely deserving of being named NABC All-American,” Fort Lewis College coach Bob Pietrack told the Durango Herald in late March. “He was simply sensational all season long. Akuel represents everything that is right with collegiate basketball. He's an All-American person, All-American teammate, and without question an All-American player.”
Kot also drilled 85% of his attempts from the free-throw line. That equated to 226 makes, the second most in the nation. His 1,712 career points is the fifth most in school history.
Expect the Cowboys to sign at least two more players in the near future, according to a source. Linder will meet with the media next week for the first time since the regular-season finale at San Diego State.
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