Where are they now? What happened to Arizona Basketball transfer portal departures
By Mason Duhon
James Akinjo. player. . Also: Baylor (2021-22). James Akinjo. 89. JA. G. Left Arizona: 2021.
Akinjo, like Brown Jr., was also a bit of a journeyman in his collegiate days, playing for three schools in four years. He started his career at Georgetown, where he started 32 of 33 games in his freshman year and played 31.6 minutes per game. He was a prolific playmaker, averaging 13.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
However, he only made it seven games into his sophomore season before transferring to Arizona mid-year. He sat out the remainder of the season before coming back strong in the 2020-21 season. He started all 26 games played and logged nearly 35 minutes per contest. He posted a career-best 15.6 points per game and paired it with 5.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. He earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors with Arizona before entering the transfer portal a second time.
He landed at Baylor for what would be his final year of collegiate eligibility. He played and started in all 32 games in the 2021-22 season, logging 33.1 minutes on average. His scoring output dropped to 13.5 points per game, but he paired it with career-highs in assists (5.8 per game) and steals (2.0 per game). He earned First Team All-Big 12 honors and subsequently declared for the 2022 NBA Draft.
Akinjo went undrafted, but he participated in the Atlanta Hawks' summer league. This earned him a look by the New York Knicks, who signed him to the Westchester Knicks, their G League affiliate. He played in 20 games with six starts and averaged 14.3 points, 6.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. He was traded to the Stockton Kings ahead of the 2023-24 season, but he wouldn't be there long.
Akinjo played in four games for Stockton before getting traded once again to the Wisconsin Herd, the G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. He played in 14 games for the Herd, averaging 9.7 points, 3.9 assists, and 2.3 rebounds. The future remains uncertain for Akinjo, but he's at least carved out a strong enough niche in the G League.