Akinjo Commits!!!!!!

[Mike Honcho]

Antric Klaiber was in the 80's. Richie Ashmeade was in the 60's. All I am saying is be realistic. I hope the kid is another Shabazz. Seems like he has great attitude and works hard and is a leader. All good attributes. No reason to give me the finger and play gun. And yes I would love to get a recruit in the top 25. Once upon a time it was not unusual for that to happen.

You appear to be making the argument that HS rankings are not indicative of future performance. Perhaps you should heed your own advice.

This kid has a lot of strengths, plus he was the Peach Jam MVP. Not so inconsequential.

 

[Stainmaster]

When did fans not get excited about the commitment of a top 100 recruit with high upside?

Revisionist history. These guys are creating a UConn basketball that did not exist in the real world.

 

[ucp990411]

Dude give it up this kid's a big time point guard recruit regardless of rankings and top 100 is nothing to sneeze at anyway. Bazz wasn't highly ranked and he is one of the best UConn point guards ever. This kid is of the same mold.

Oh

 

[Vuce]

Currently on espn Akinjo is ranked 75th. Boatright was ranked 74th his year. Shabazz wasn't ranked on espn but his 247 composite rank was 77.

Holy Spartacus! Bazz was ranked 77 and Boat 74??!!! No wonder we won it all in 2014. It was fate!

Welcome James

 

[jibsey]

From the video he seems to have a better handle than any guard on our team right now except maybe Gilbert.

 

[Dave]

 

[husky429]

From the video he seems to have a better handle than any guard on our team right now except maybe Gilbert.

Gilberts handle is on another level than akinjos. Its literally what made him an all star in his class.

Akinjo lacks a right hand in every video ive seen. Very shifty but goes no where with it. Our coaches will teach him to be a more purposeful dribbler. But his 3 pt shooting is a great asset to build from

 

[Kmba2Rmemba]

From ESPN's Paul Biancardi:

Who he reminds us of: With his confidence and competitiveness, he has an approach and mindset of Kentucky freshman point guard Quade Green. Green's a better outside shooter and distributor at the same stage but they both share the will to win that separates them from many. On the defensive side, he can be much like former Kansas guard Frank Mason.

I like it

 

[HuskyHawk]

Great to see an early commitment of a UConn style PG early on. Nice that he's young and probably has lots of room to improve. At his age, he could even add a couple of inches.

On the plus side, I'm assuming the staff prioritized defense here, and I approve. We need to get back to that. This is a prototypical Jim Calhoun guard.

 

[intlzncster]

Loved this...

 

[intlzncster]

From ESPN's Paul Biancardi:

Who he reminds us of: With his confidence and competitiveness, he has an approach and mindset of Kentucky freshman point guard Quade Green. Green's a better outside shooter and distributor at the same stage but they both share the will to win that separates them from many. On the defensive side, he can be much like former Kansas guard Frank Mason.

I like it

Sounds like a prototypical JC kid. Love it.

Edit: @HuskyHawk really beat me to the punch there

 

[DonaldDraper]

May the Peach Jam MOJO be with us. Here is a great excerpt about the last 100+ player that chose The Huskies after a breakout performance at the same event.

********************************************************************
Lamb had one Division I scholarship offer from UNC Greensboro heading into summer before his senior year. Stronger, quicker and more confident, he exploded at the prestigious Peach Jam AAU tournament, outplaying ranked players. With each three, the coaches flipped through their notebooks to figure out who the kid was.

"He shot the roof off," said Walter White, Lamb’s AAU coach at the Georgia Stars. "He wanted to let everybody know that he could play at that level."

Lamb left Peach Jam with over 35 offers, eventually accepting one from coach Jim Calhoun at Connecticut.

 

[Chief00]

Time for Chief to weigh in. This dude is a very efficient player. He makes the game look simple and basic - which a good player is suppose to do. I like his soft touch and coupled with his smarts and work habits, he will develop into a knock down shooter.
My man Carlos Daniels needs to work his magic on this 160 pound dude.

The Blaze momentum continues - we are on a roll again!

 

[Storrs South]

 

[FartMan69]

me rn

 

[MSGSeven]

Kid has beautiful form on his jumper

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Geez, I'm sorry. Absolutely wonderful to get this kid. Shows the staff is doing an unbelievable job in recruiting!!!!! I guess expectations are not what they used to be.

Oh, I get it. You're a Kentucky fan!

Remember, rankings are not set in stone, and from 20 to 120 any player may shine, and any player may be a dud. And that goes double for 120 to 220.

 

[80shusky]

Welcome aboard James! Looking forward to your contributions to our next National Championship. You know we collect those here right?

 

[Sonofabeach]

[URL='https://twitter.com/rachelgotmail1']
Rachel J‏ @rachelgotmail1[/URL] 3h3 hours ago
It's official we are now a HUSKY FAMILY!! #huskies

 

[Chief00]

Gilberts handle is on another level than akinjos. Its literally what made him an all star in his class.

Akinjo lacks a right hand in every video ive seen. Very shifty but goes no where with it. Our coaches will teach him to be a more purposeful dribbler. But his 3 pt shooting is a great asset to build from

Agree 3 point bomber.

 

[TheRogers]

Ben Gordon pull-up with a Jeremy Lamb tear drop....

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I'm greedy. With Akinjo and Wilson committed, I now want Carey, Carrigan and Nolley, assuming Adams and Larrier are headed for the League.

 

[David 76]

Holley is gone.

 

[HawkHusky]

I'm greedy. With Akinjo and Wilson committed, I now want Carey, Carrigan and Nolley, assuming Adams and Larrier are headed for the League.

Nolley is headed to Illinois with his buddy. Carrigan is falling for Boeheim's BS. More than anyone you listed, I want Nembhard (visiting this weekend). And I want him bad!

 

[UConnSwag11]

 

[intlzncster]

Larrier is gone, we'll sign 2 kids. Hopefully Carey/Nembhard and Shittu or Carrigan, although if we ended up with Louis King I couldn't be mad.

I read your sentence as Louis King the First and I was pumped.

Mildly let down on second read.

 

[UConnSwag11]

 

[Waquoit]

Antric Klaiber was in the 80's. Richie Ashmeade was in the 60's.

And Emeka Okafor was 96.

 

[intlzncster]

me rn

I feel you brotha.

Not literally tho

 

[champs99and04]

Sounds familiar...

I've said this before, but the kid's game has a saviness and creative craftiness we haven't seen here since Shabazz. Intangibles and IQ off the charts... always 1 step ahead of the opponent. We need that.

Have you seen him play outside of highlights? Sincere question. And FWIW, Jalen Adams still plays here. He's one of the craftiest and savviest guards in America, which is why he hung 20 on an elite Cincinnati defense in 29 minutes despite being the only remaining player on the roster capable of creating his own shot or really dribbling.

People on this board have an uncanny ability to compare any and every recruit to Shabazz, but - and I'm stating the obvious here - those guys don't come around often and I think it does a bit of a disservice to players like Adams to throw those comparisons around so liberally. He's in the 99th percentile of college basketball players and Gilbert probably won't be far behind.

With a kid like Akinjo, he's just become another entry on a spreadsheet. It's more likely than not that that he'll be on the same plan as Shabazz and Jalen before him in that three years from now, after his sophomore season, he'll be underappreciated.