Akin left the team before his senior season when he met his future wife and returned to his home state of Michigan.

Akin was a member of the SuperSonics during their inaugural season but was forced to retire due to knee and ankle injuries.

[2][3] Akin moved with his wife to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, through a family connection to attend William Carey College to play basketball during the 1966–67 season.

[2] He played on a traveling Amateur Athletic Union team that dominated opponents in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

[3] He played in a pickup game in Detroit with his high school friends where he suffered a knee injury that required surgery; Akin made it through the 1967–68 season by taking cortisone shots.

[2][3] Akin returned to Seattle when he was contacted by SuperSonics general manager Dick Vertlieb and head coach Al Bianchi who offered him the position of scout for the team.

[4] He regularly attended girls basketball games at Shorecrest High School where one of his daughters was an assistant coach.