By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
As the 2026 Seattle Metro League basketball season begins to take shape, familiar contenders are back in the hunt for city, district, and state titles. Programs like Rainier Beach, O’Dea, Seattle Prep, and Eastside Catholic are all vying for the crown. Among them, Eastside Catholic stands out as a potential dark horse, with much of its hopes riding on senior Yabi Aklog.
A 6-foot-11 center, Aklog has been part of Eastside Catholic’s basketball program since the seventh grade. He spent years developing his game within the system, facing top-tier talent like former teammate Jacob Cofie, now playing at the college level. Those matchups sharpened Aklog’s skill set and helped prepare him for his new role as a leader.
This year’s roster is young and untested. Eastside Catholic fields four seniors, including one sidelined by injury, along with two juniors, six sophomores, and one freshman. Head coach Brent Merritt, now in his 11th season, is no stranger to building contenders. With two state titles already under his belt, Merritt values effort above experience.
“We’re young. We only have four guys returning from varsity last year. Everybody else played JV, except for the one freshman. But yeah, we’re young, extremely young,” Merritt said. “But it also makes it really great to coach this team because they’re all about us and not on their own agenda. So our goal is to win it every year. That’s not going to change, but I just enjoy my group. Win or lose, if they play hard for me, hey, I have no complaints. And they play hard for me. We can win by 30, lose by 30. If they play hard, I’m good with it.”
Aklog, previously known for his quiet demeanor, has embraced the challenge of becoming a more vocal and visible leader. With younger teammates looking up to him, Aklog recognizes that his presence matters just as much off the court as it does in the paint.
“I think that’s kind of a bigger thing for me because I’m not a very vocal person. Like, I’m not very loud,” Aklog said. “A lot of people tell me I’m kind of quiet, so I think this year as a team and as a leader, I think I’ve kind of gotten better at communicating, using my voice more, and also leading by example.”
Merritt said the transition from a supporting role to the centerpiece of the team’s game plan is critical for Aklog. With former Eastside Catholic big man Jacob Cofie now gone, the expectations for Aklog have shifted significantly.
“Yabi’s a great kid. He’s been at Eastside Catholic since his seventh grade year, so he’s been there forever. I’ve known him forever. He’s grown up, grown up quickly,” Merritt said. “He had to take a big step losing Jacob Cofie a couple of years ago because Jacob Cofie was Batman and Yabi was Robin. So it makes a big difference. So last year, he being a junior, being the first year without Jacob, and you got to slide over in that role, it makes a difference. So I don’t know if he was quite prepared to carry the load a couple of years ago, but he is now.”
Like any team entering a long season, Eastside Catholic has areas that need improvement. Merritt and Aklog both pointed to discipline and decision-making as critical to their success as the season progresses.
“As a team, reflecting on what we need to work on, we need to make better decisions down the stretch. We’re not disciplined enough yet,” Merritt said. “Being so young, compared to last year’s team. But we play much harder than last year’s team did. I never have to question their effort, which is a big thing.”
“You never want to have to question effort, and we’re always going to give effort,” Merritt continued. “They’re going to play hard for me. We’ll make mistakes, but it won’t be because we’re not playing hard. So that part I love. We have really good leadership. Of course, the big fella’s been great for us inside. Ty McNeil does everything for us, inside and out. Dash runs the show. Stevenson’s a knockdown shooter, so we’re a pretty solid group.”
Aklog credited the team’s cohesion and chemistry for much of its early promise. Though the roster is young, players have bonded quickly on and off the court.
“I would say we’re pretty close. We’ve done a lot of team bonding in the past year, especially when we went on a trip over this past Christmas,” Aklog said. “So we’re really tight, and we are kind of a young team. I mean, we only have like four seniors and one of them not playing. I think we have good chemistry. We’re not where we want to be yet, but I think pretty soon we’ll be really good.”
Aklog believes the team’s size gives it a distinct advantage, particularly when attacking the basket. He also has faith in the team’s perimeter shooting when defenses collapse.
“I think our strength is getting inside. We’re pretty big. We’re pretty big in athletics, so we’re really good at posting up, just attacking the rim, and then if that’s not working, we have a lot of shooters,” Aklog said. “So I think we’re kind of an all-around team.”
The road to a title won’t be easy. Rainier Beach enters the season with the top-ranked player in the nation, and perennial powers like O’Dea and Seattle Prep present stiff competition. But Merritt is undeterred by outside expectations and believes Eastside Catholic has what it takes to compete with anyone.
“We got the same goal as everybody else. We want to hold a gold ball,” Merritt said. “When you got the number one player in the country, of course you’re probably going to be the favorite. The kid is pretty much unstoppable. Six-eight, 240, shoots it, puts it on the floor. He does it all. So do recognize that they are the favorites,” Merritt said, referring to Rainier Beach. “But we’re going to fight as much as we possibly can, and with O’Dea and with Seattle Prep and all the top teams, we are working to reach our goal. That’s our goal every year.”
“But I’m just happy with my group,” Merritt added. “I enjoy being around my kids.”
