Three Rivers men's basketball adds "versatile" Swedish forward

Simon Akeena

Three Rivers basketball’s recent signing may add versatility to the Raiders’ frontcourt.

Simon Akeena, of Stocksund, Sweden, played for Strength ‘N Motion Prep in San Antonio, Texas, last season and recently signed with the Raiders.

“He’s a Swiss Army Knife,” said Akeena’s prep school coach Mark Reed. “He’s a gym rat. He loves to be in the gym. He loves to put in the extra work to get better and he is a great young man.”

Akeena, a 6-foot, 7-inch forward, was averaging about 15 points and seven rebounds and had Division I interest before the COVID-19 pandemic ended his season and forced him to return to Sweden.

“A lot of the schools who wanted to see him couldn’t see him live,” Reed said. “He had a very, very solid season for us. We play some of the top JUCO’s here in Texas and he was able to hold his own.

“He put himself in a position to receive a scholarship so he had a great season for us.”

Strength N’ Motion has also been an opponent against the Raiders recently.

“Three Rivers is a great JUCO, a powerhouse,” Reed said. “The type of player and Simon’s IQ of the game, I think he can fit in with anyone.”

Reed continued to say that Akeena has a high-level midrange game, can post up smaller players while also taking big guys off the dribble. He added that Akeena hopes to improve his 3-point shot.

“He can really help in a lot of different ways with his versatility,” Reed said. “He’s a hard-working, quiet young man.”