WVU Additions Akok, Farrakhan Pick Jersey Numbers; Edwards Flips to No. 7

WVU additions Akok Akok and Noah Farrakhan have chosen their jersey numbers for the upcoming season. Akok and Farrakhan are West Virginia’s most recent signees on the men’s basketball team.

Akok will wear No. 13 while Farrakhan will wear No. 1. WVU C Jesse Edwards has flipped his number from 13 and will now wear No. 7. Edwards joins Ofri Naveh as two Mountaineers to wear the recently unbanned jersey numbers.

Before this upcoming season, players were prohibited from wearing jersey numbers No. 6, 7, 8 and 9. The NCAA implemented the rule before the 1957-58 season. The rule was put in place to help officials communicate to the scorer’s table so they weren’t using both hands to combine numbers.

According to the NCAA’s modified rule, players are allowed to wear No. 0-99 on their jerseys. There are no limits anymore.

Akok (6-foot-10) averaged 6.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks over 31 games for the Hoyas. He shot 46% from the field and 28% from three on 2.7 attempts per game and recorded three double-doubles last season against Coppin State, Villanova and Xavier. The Manchester, Nh. native had three games of five blocks or more.

Farrakhan (6-foot-1) appeared in 31 games for the Eagles, averaging 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Farrakhan shot 43% from the field and 24% from three. He recorded 14 games of 20 points or more during his EMU career. Farrakhan scored 19 points, six rebounds and three assists against Michigan in Nov. 2022.