Playing time, lure of Big Ten bringing Akeem Springs to Minnesota

The Gophers men's basketball team officially announced on Tuesday the addition of transfer guard Akeem Springs, the final piece of Richard Pitino's 2016 class.

Springs, a 6-4 wing who averaged 13.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists at Wis.-Milwaukee last year, announced he had committed to Minnesota on Friday, filling the opening left available when freshman Kevin Dorsey transferred earlier this month. Springs will be eligible to play right away after graduating from UWM this spring and will have one year of eligibility remaining.

"We are extremely excited about the addition of Akeem Springs," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said in a release. "He provides depth and versatility to our backcourt. Akeem will also add great leadership to our locker room."

Springs, who played one year at Northern Illinois before transferring to Milwaukee, chose the Gophers over Mississippi — where he visited earlier this month — after touring the Minnesota campus.

His father, Dwayne Springs, told the Star Tribune this week that his son made an instant connection with coaches and players. The promise of playing time and the lure of the Big Ten also led Springs to make his decision.

"Akeem was telling me 'Man, I feel really good about my team, I feel good about the guys, I feel good about the coaches and playing in the Big Ten and all those things,' " said Dwayne Springs, who also mentioned he has some family in the Twin Cities area. "We were weighing the pros and cons for about 24 hours and it just came down to how do we pass up the opportunity to play in the Big Ten? How do we pass up the chance to play against the teams you thought should have recruited you out of high school? All of those things were huge … to play on a huge stage, that's what won out."

Dwayne also said he and his son were told Akeem would have the chance to compete for a starting spot, a major factor in his commitment.

"He wouldn't go anywhere just to be a role player, to be a complementary guy," Dwayne said. "But to come in and be a big part of it — definitely a team-oriented thing, but for him to be a big part of the team."

The elder Springs said he believes his son is naturally a combo guard who thrives at both positions, but said he believes Akeem could defend small forwards and power forwards as well. Springs also averaged 35.1 percent from three-point range a year ago, a skill sorely needed by the shooter-sparse Gophers.

However, it remains to be seen how the Gophers staff will sort out what appears to be a bit of a logjam at the wing spots. Star recruit Amir Coffey of Hopkins, Rochester recruit Michael Hurt, transfer Davonte Fitzgerald, sophomores Dupree McBrayer and Ahmad Gilbert and now Springs are all expected to play shooting guard and small forward, which are somewhat interchangeable positions in Pitino's system.