A week ago, the Vols sent out an offer to four-star point guard James Akinjo just a few days after he reopened his recruitment. And on Tuesday night, one of Tennessee’s assistant coaches went to go visit Akinjo in his home in Richmond, California.
According to Twitter, Tennessee assistant coach Michael Schwartz visited Akinjo on Tuesday. The Vols are just the latest team to visit Akinjo, as he’s hosted Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, Sean Miller of Arizona, and Gregg Marshall of Wichita State over the last week.
Thank you @MikeSchwartzUT for coming out to see James Akinjo @Vol_Hoops ?? #peachjamchamp #MVP pic.twitter.com/Qj9i4KGzzn
— Rachel J (@rachelgotmail1) March 27, 2018
Akinjo is ranked as the No. 95 overall player and No. 17 point guard in the 2018 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Ever since he got his release from UConn back on March 10th, he’s been a big target in the 2018 recruiting cycle.
Not only has Akinjo hosted several coaches over the past week, but he’s picked up interest from West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Providence, Wake Forest, and others as well. He holds offers from Indiana, Virginia, Arizona, Texas A&M, Cal, Maryland, Pittsburgh, and others.
According to D1Circuit.com, Akinjo averaged 13.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and shot 39.1 percent from three during Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League, Peach Jam, and tournament play over the summer last year. His play steadily got better as the summer progressed, and he shined particularly in the Peach Jam portion, earning MVP honors. In five recorded games this season during high school, he averaged 24 points per game and five assists.
Akinjo’s highlight film shows off a quick guard who has superb vision and awareness and can create shots for himself and his teammates. He can facilitate well like a point guard is supposed to, but he can also hit jumpers, cut to the basket, and nail threes. He’s a bit undersized, but he plays bigger than his 6-foot frame and battles for rebounds regularly. He’s a physical player despite his smaller stature, but defense will be a concern because of his lack of height. He would be the shortest player on the Vols’ roster should they land him.
The Vols are only expected to lose James Daniel III off this season’s roster. Barring any offseason transfers, Tennessee will only have room to add one more player to their roster for the 2018-19 season. And Rick Barnes said on Monday that ideally they would like to use that scholarship to add a point guard.
Akinjo is one of two players the Vols are pursuing heavily in the 2018 class. The other is in-state point guard Tyler Harris, a high three-star from Memphis.
