Why Not Akinjo?
It was the Summer of 2016, and my AAU team (Team Rampage) were playing in a local tournament at Contra Costa College (Richmond, CA). We were playing against a team called “Red and Black”, which featured most of the players from Salesian High School (Richmond, CA). It wasn’t a big tournament, but everybody used it to stay sharp and get more games in. My AAU team had played Red and Black before but there was a major player that did not play the first time we met. That player was James Akinjo of Salesian High School. Akinjo played for the Nike EYBL Oakland Soldiers, but would get extra games in with Red and Black during his free time. I remember telling my team, “I haven’t really seen that kid, but I heard he is good”. Good was an understatement as he killed us scoring in multiple ways. One dribble pull-up, step-back threes, floaters, getting to the foul line, and more.
Akinjo was only a sophomore at the time, but I knew he was a big time player. I was hearing schools like Texas A&M, San Jose State, Colorado and more were interested in him. Those offers would soon grow during his junior year, and the summer heading into his senior year. Akinjo would lead the Oakland Sodiers to the Peach Jam title on National Television, scoring the same way in front of the country as he did back in Richmond the year before when we played against him. Big time guards couldn’t stay in front of him.
Today, the UConn commit is one of the top scorers on the West Coast, and his team is number 5 in the nation. As the High School Mcdonald’s All-American game rosters were released, Akinjo’s name was left off. The list of names that were on the list are all very good players which made it difficult to pick rosters, but Akinjo was one that the committee should look at as the biggest snub. Many people in Northern California want to know what was the deciding factor to keep him off? His team is one of the best in the country, He led his AAU team on the biggest stage in AAU, he committed to a big time school that has a long history of pro guards, why not Akinjo?
At this point, the rosters are set and Akinjo won’t be playing. However, I know that the decision to not place him on a roster will motivate Akinjo to close out his senior year strong, and continue to prove the naysayers wrong in college.