James Akinjo

[Paesano]

Why Akinjo wasn’t drawn to what Hurley was selling is a mystery, but I am sure playing time at GT was appealing

When he chose UConn, who were the other teams on his final list?

 

[JimHurley]

Very dumb post. Akinjo is great. Eventually, 1st team all-Big East good. He is not better than Gilbert. He’s played, what, 5 games over the past 2 years? Once the rust is gone AG will be All-American good. Also, no question/no debate: No Akinjo + Hurley >>>>> Akinjo + Ollie. I can live with his decommient no matter how good he becomes. Best of luck to the kid

 

[Mr. French]

James is a great player, AG is a great player. AG is 2 years older & 2 years removed from ball. To compare the two is wild.

This is on my MT Rushmore of dumbest posts of this season.

25 headed Mount Rushmore via the Boneyard.

 

[gtcam]

I know it's one game, but I am watching James Akinjo against Illinois, and he is great. He is a better version of Alterique Gilbert, don't hate me for saying it, just watch him play.

I don't know what or why you would say he is better than Gilbert I watched and he is good but not AG good - YET

 

[UConnRock]

I don't know what or why you would say he is better than Gilbert I watched and he is good but not AG good - YET

Nobody here has seen AG enough to make any determination about how good he really is. Classic boneyard where Akinjo looks good in 1 game against a bottom ranked team in the B1G and conclusive statements are made. Illinois was ranked only above Rutgers in pre-season predictions. Dosunmu put up 25 points on 9-15 shooting in a battle of freshman PGs, so Akinjo apparently need some work on defense.

 

[Towney007]

The trade was essentially Hurley for Akinjo.

I'll take Hurley over 100 Akinjo's. I'm literally not losing a lick of sleep over it and haven't even thought about the kid until this thread. Even had he come, he'd have been a disaster under Ollie. I'll guarantee we would have gotten nothing out of him.

 

[gtcam]

Of all the transfers, I always felt Vance was the guy that was going to really sting. Good size, great 3 pt potential, he would have brought an extra dimension to this team. I don’t blame the kid for leaving the previous administration, wish him luck.

His baggage and his father wasn't worth it
Yeah the kid could shoot the three but was a ghost defensively and hustled only when he felt like it
Attitude counts - if you saw him in practice or watched him during games when he was sitting on the bench you would understand what I am alluding to in the big picture
Blame KO if you want BUT the kid shares a huge part of what happened
I wish him no ill will but hope he grows up without relying on Daddy and stands on his own 2 feet and realizes that attitude plays a big part

 

[RedsoxCowboys]

I don't know what or why you would say he is better than Gilbert I watched and he is good but not AG good - YET

I like Gilbert too, but some of you make it sound like he is the best player to ever play at UConn.

 

[intlzncster]

Thanks KO!


Of course what's not mentioned is that he would have transferred out after year 1 so he could actually learn to play basketball.

 

[JB75]

The only bad thing about Ollie was that Akinjo decided to un-enroll at uconn. and let’s calm down saying he’s better than Gilbert - he might be - but give AG sometime to get his feet wet

 

[Huskyforlife]

I like Gilbert too, but some of you make it sound like he is the best player to ever play at UConn.

You don’t think he is?

 

[polycom]

His baggage and his father wasn't worth it
Yeah the kid could shoot the three but was a ghost defensively and hustled only when he felt like it
Attitude counts - if you saw him in practice or watched him during games when he was sitting on the bench you would understand what I am alluding to in the big picture
Blame KO if you want BUT the kid shares a huge part of what happened
I wish him no ill will but hope he grows up without relying on Daddy and stands on his own 2 feet and realizes that attitude plays a big part

The fact people say this about Vance but then say CV should keep his starting spot is hilarious. Both of them have poor attitudes however Hurley would have gotten the best out of Vance like he is trying to do with Vital

 

[intlzncster]

Glad we aren't stuck with MAL wasting a scholarship.

If Ollie stayed, can you imagine the reign of hell that chief would have dropped on Glen Miller RE MAL?

 

[Waquoit]

Of course what's not mentioned is that he would have transferred out after year 1 so he could actually learn to play basketball.

Plus Vital would have taken all his shots

 

[intlzncster]

The fact people say this about Vance but then say CV should keep his starting spot is hilarious. Both of them have poor attitudes however Hurley would have gotten the best out of Vance like he is trying to do with Vital

How is CVs attitude poor? Kid busts his balls. All the time, incl all throughout last year's dumpster fire.

He plays completely stupid (selfish) at times, and jacks too much. But I'll take a kid like that every time and simply coach it out of him.

He's another kid that was let down by lack of coaching/accountability over the last 2 years. Hopefully it's not too late.

 

[Waquoit]

Blame KO if you want BUT the kid shares a huge part of what happened

So instead of blaming the millionaire adult who wasn't hustling you want to shift blame the kid who wasn't hustling. The kid did the adult thing by asking the coach what he needed to do. The adult head coach had nothing. Except insults for him from his minions after he left.

 

[Guapo]

I like Gilbert too, but some of you make it sound like he is the best player to ever play at UConn.

Gilbert is not the best UConn player ever and Akinjo wouldn’t have been if he came here either.

So, you can put that straw man back in the barn, thxs.

 

[hardcorehusky]

If Ollie would have stayed- you would have had Akinjo
but half the team would have transferred out!!

We would win 12 games this year.

Let's see what Hurley's recruits look like as the replacements- so far it's Brendan Adams, Tarin Smith and Yakwe versus Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas. Add in Bouknight and Gaffney to go with Adams and maybe CV and you have a pretty good future backcourt.

So while Akinjo would have been fun-I'll take this swap any day.

 

[tcf15]

 

[awfuldan]

Saw this live and lost it. So good.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Could of been Akinjo for Adams. Doesn’t matter tho. We’re in a better place.

 

[jibsey]

I guess that this Enoch Akinjo Durham Vance stuff is going to be with us forever but it's hard to ignore the threads. We can't change the past, it happened. I wish it didn't in some cases but it did. There is no sense comparing these guys to players we either have or don't have.

 

[Scrutineer]

If Ollie stayed, can you imagine the reign of hell that chief would have dropped on Glen Miller RE MAL?

Don't you want Chief to be right at least once?

 

[Chuck]

Vance/Enoch/Durham left while Ollie was still employed. My guess is they were gone no matter what, but regardless it would've been hard to fire Ollie at that time.

Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas were a cost of trading Ollie for Hurley. It seems like Hurley was okay (and may have preferred) losing Matthews and Kisunas. We never really heard much about Hurley's desire/efforts to keep Akinjo. In my opinion each of those kids found a great place for them to play basketball and rescinded their UConn commitment without drama. So, at this point, I'm happy with the trade of Akinjo, Matthews, Kisunas and Ollie for Hurley and wish those guys well. That's not to say I won't be jealous if one or more of them turn out awesome.

 

[UConnSwag11]