Viktor Lakhin has been a pleasant surprise and a pretty substantial welcoming gift for first-year University of Cincinnati men's basketball coach Wes Miller.
Lakhin, who missed all of his freshman campaign for the Bearcats last season with a knee injury, is averaging eight points and 4.5 rebounds in just more than 15 minutes per game off the bench for Miller through the first two contests. Lakhin also has three blocks and three steals.
But more important than stats, the 6-foot-11, 245-pound Russian is healthy, has shown lateral quickness on both ends of the court and superb passing ability and vision, linking up with Ody Oguama on a lob at the rim Saturday in UC's 73-68 win over Georgia at Fifth Third Arena.