LAS VEGAS — Sometimes Illinois State coach Dan Muller worries when his players take their professional basketball careers overseas, wondering how they will adapt to a new culture and living across an ocean from their families.
But when DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell joined Denmark’s Bakken Bears in 2016, the coach knew Akoon-Purcell was ready for the adventure. He had already moved from Orlando to rural Oklahoma to Normal, Illinois. He always reacted to hard coaching with a steady demeanor. And the way he figured out how to train his dog or repair his own car without asking for help reminded Muller of a man twice Akoon-Purcell’s age.