Former Georgetown star James Akinjo finds fit, 'love' with Arizona Wildcats

College basketball transfers are not only mind-numbingly common these days, but they’re also usually pretty easy to figure out.

Usually either somebody “transfers down” to a lesser program when they aren’t playing as much or in the role that they (or their handlers) prefer, or they “transfer up” when they play well at a lower level and want a better résumé for pro scouts.

But James Akinjo’s transfer from Georgetown to Arizona last December didn’t appear to fall neatly into either category.

The 6-foot-1-inch junior point guard from Oakland was the Big East Freshman of the Year in 2018-19 and the Hoyas’ second-leading scorer (13.4 points) at the time of his departure early last season.

He led Georgetown in both minutes played (30.7 per game) and shots taken (89) when he entered the transfer portal on Dec. 2 last season.

He had a big role, on a big stage. And yet he left.

“Arizona is just the right fit for me, the way I want to play. That’s it. Nothing else,” Akinjo said last week, when he spoke to local media for the first time since arriving at Arizona last January. “I love the school. I love the coach. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere here. So I was really excited to come on board.”

Akinjo has actually expressed plenty of interest in the Wildcats for years. He considered UA when he was at Salesian Prep in Richmond, California, before choosing UConn. He then flipped to Georgetown after the Huskies fired coach Kevin Ollie in March 2018.

Living in the Bay Area, Akinjo played for a well-regarded club team, the Oakland Soldiers, who had sent alums such as Stanley Johnson and Aaron Gordon to the Wildcats. He watched Pac-12 basketball and knew about the Wildcats’ coach.

“I loved him,” Akinjo said of his first impression of Sean Miller. “I loved the school. I loved the system. I loved the way they played. I loved Arizona. That’s the way I look at them now.”

Only, from the outside, it wasn’t always clear what Akinjo was looking at when he decided to transfer to Arizona on New Year’s eve.

On Dec. 2, Georgetown announced Akinjo and teammate Josh LeBlanc were leaving the team, while CBS reported that LeBlanc and two other Georgetown players had been the subject of temporary restraining orders.

Georgetown later clarified that Akinjo was not involved, and the NCAA’s approval of a waiver for Akinjo to play immediately this season appeared to be another indication that some sort of adversity was out of Akinjo’s control at Georgetown.

But Akinjo said last week the off-court issues were unrelated to his decision.

“None of the allegations or whatever was going on had (anything) to do with me leaving,” Akinjo said. “I wasn’t involved, therefore I didn’t know too much about what was going on when I decided to leave. It was news to me just like it was news to you guys. There was a lot of other things that influenced my decision on leaving, but that (wasn’t) one of them.”

On the court, Akinjo was getting the type of minutes and shots that suggested he had no reason to complain (even if Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim did, saying Akinjo “wouldn’t pass the ball to anybody and just shot every time.”)

While Akinjo’s wasn’t shooting efficiently at the time of his departure — just 33.7% overall and 24.2% from 3-point range — it was a sample size of only seven games.

Plus, Akinjo hit 39.1% of his 3s the previous season.

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UA coach Sean Miller defended Akinjo’s style of play and decision to leave. Miller had grown to know Akinjo as a high school player who led the Soldiers to the championship of the prestigious Peach Jam tournament in 2017 and as the winner of the 2018-19 Big East Freshman of the Year, an award Miller once won at Pitt.

“We did our research and we know him very well,” Miller said in January. “You know, people can certainly have their opinion of all of our players but we have to make our own decisions.

“We’re incredibly excited to have him.”

During his preseason interview last month, after seeing Akinjo in practices late last season against Nico Mannion and in practices this fall often against Kerr Krissa, Miller had not lost any of that enthusiasm.

Akinjo is the expected to be the Wildcats’ starting point guard, bringing the sort of skills and grit that Miller prizes to the position.

“We expect a lot from James,” Miller said. “He’s got an inner toughness that you either have or you don’t. He has it. And he’s always won. When he played on his travel team, he won the Peach Jam on the (Nike) EYBL circuit and Peach Jam is just a moment of truth for a lot of players and teams.

“(He also) played in a very, very good high school program for an excellent coach, against great competition, in California.”

Miller compared Akinjo to former Xavier standout guards Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons, the latter of whom also transferred to UA to play under Miller with the Wildcats in 2012-13.

“I think (Akinjo) brings a lot of leadership qualities, he brings a toughness to our team,” Miller said. “If you remember Tu Holloway, he went on to have just an historic career at Xavier. He also reminds me a little bit of Mark Lyons. It’s their personality, the way they play, not shying away from the big moment — I think James has a lot of those really good qualities to him.”

While the Wildcats didn’t have a Red-Blue Game or even an exhibition to show off Akinjo this fall, there’s already some evidence of his impact behind the scenes in practice.

Junior guard Jemarl Baker, who is moving more off the ball this season in part because of Akinjo’s arrival, says Akinjo “does whatever is necessary to win” in practices, whether it’s scoring, distributing or being vocal.

Kriisa, a 6-3 Estonian freshman who is projected to back up Akinjo at the point and play shooting guard alongside him at times, can already vouch for that “vocal” part: He’s been going head-to-head with Akinjo often in practice, finding Akinjo personifies the more rugged style of play he’s found so far after growing up in European basketball.

“Everything is more physical, especially going against James,” Kriisa said. “James is on my (butt) every day in the practices. I haven’t really felt that before.”

That’s exactly the sort of thing Akinjo has been aiming to do.

And, maybe, finally, at the place he was meant to be all along.

Sitting out “has been hard, but also really helpful for not just my game, but for me just growing as a player and as a person,” Akinjo said.

“My focus has been learning the system here at Arizona, trying to be ready, to hit the ground running and continue to work on my game, getting faster and stronger and working on my leadership.”

When the Wildcats open their season on Nov. 25 against NAU, Akinjo, the Wildcats — and everyone else — will get a chance to view the results.