When he was 4, James Akinjo’s life took a turn after a tragedy. His mother, Monique Divers, died after a long illness and his grandmother, Roberta Stevenson, took custody.
His mom had served as an inspiration, and now it was his grandmother who would see that her grandson would have the tools needed to succeed: a tremendous work ethic and ultimate confidence.
Akinjo, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound point guard at Salesian-Richmond, has climbed the national recruiting ranks and is now considered one of the top 100 seniors in the country. In November, he signed a letter of intent to the University of Connecticut.
The Pride (16-1), The Chronicle’s No. 1 team, play Sac-Joaquin Section power Modesto Christian in the final — and premier — game of the 21st MaxPreps Martin Luther King Jr. Classic presented by De La Salle-Concord on Monday at St. Mary’s College.
Akinjo will bring averages of 24.8 points, 5.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds into the game.
“Anytime I feel tired or think things are getting hard, I think of my mom,” Akinjo said. “She always keeps me focused.”
Salesian coach Bill Mellis said he often has to order Akinjo out of the gym or to stop working out. The 17-year-old is a gym rat and workout nut.
Blessed with great basketball instincts along with superb driving and passing ability, Akinjo showed in his
freshman year “that he would be a college basketball player,” Mellis said.
It helped that Akinjo had a growth spurt as well. He entered Salesian about 5-8 and 160 pounds.
“No other reason than being small it was hard to imagine him being a blue-chip recruit,” said Mellis, who has won two state, seven North Coast Section and 10 league titles in 20 seasons at Salesian. “But you can never quite know a kid’s willingness to work. James ranks off the chart in that area. That and confidence. No moment is too big for James.”
Akinjo points to Stevenson for that.
“No matter what, never let up,” Akinjo said was his grandma’s constant message. “If you fall down, get up. She built all that confidence in me.”
At last year’s MLK Classic, he scored 29 points in a 45-36 win over St. John Bosco-Bellflower. During the spring and summer, he led what was considered an undermanned Oakland Soldiers team to championships in the two biggest AAU tournaments of the season.
That is where his recruiting stock really rose.
“I never had any doubt I could play with any of those top-20 recruits or we could take down those teams,” he said. “I’m never going to say I’m better than anyone. I’m just going to go out and prove it on the court.”
Mellis said Akinjo’s improvement was drastic both heading into his junior and senior years. Perimeter shooting might be his biggest leap, but taking care of the ball might be Akinjo’s greatest strength.
“You cannot take the ball away from him,” Mellis said. “He keeps the ball so close, so tight. We practice and try to take it away, but he just won’t let you take it away.”
Part of that is because he’s just so competitive.
“Video games, running and getting to the car first, it doesn’t matter, I’ve always been super competitive,” Akinjo said.
Akinjo’s father, also James Akinjo, was a basketball standout at McClymonds-Oakland in the late ’90s. He’s still in his son’s life.
“I’ve seen tape on him in the day,” the young Akinjo said. “He was pretty good. But not better than me.”
Friday’s games: Darrion Trammell scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as No. 11 St. Ignatius (10-4, 3-1 West Catholic Athletic League) won 70-61 at Serra. Parker McDonald had 20 points to lead Serra (9-5, 1-3), whose Colin McCarthy was taken by ambulance to a hospital after suffering a head injury. … Logan Johnson scored 23 points and Roy Yuan added 13 as No. 9 St. Francis (12-2, 4-0 WCAL) won 61-59 at Mitty (2-12, 0-4). … In other WCAL play, No. 19 Sacred Heart Cathedral (11-3, 2-2) got 24 points from Bryce Monroe in a 70-64 home win over No. 12 Riordan (11-3, 2-2) and No. 4 Bellarmine (12-2, 4-0) got 21 points from Jake Wojcik — putting him past 1,000 for his career — in a 75-51 win at No. 19 Valley Christian (9-4, 0-4). … In Diablo Athletic League play, Carter Mahaney scored 27 points and David Ahazie added 16 as Campolindo-Moraga (12-4, 1-0) raced to a 73-55 victory over Acalanes-Lafayette (12-5, 0-1).
MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle.
Holiday weekend boys basketball
Saturday
Piedmont MLK Classic (At Piedmont High)
Noon: Campolindo-Moraga vs. Burlingame; 1:30 p.m.: Encinal-Alameda vs. Pinole Valley; 3 p.m.: Menlo School-Atherton vs. Mission; 4:30 p.m.: Ygnacio Valley-Concord vs. Hercules; 6 p.m.: Burton vs. Piedmont
MLK Tournament (At Chabot College)
10:30 a.m.: Fremont-Oakland vs. Elliot Christian-Lodi; Noon: Albany vs. Richmond; 1:30 p.m.: Hayward vs. American Canyon; 3:15 p.m.: Livermore vs. Westmoor-Daly City; 4:45 p.m.: Miramonte-Orinda vs. San Lorenzo; 6:15 p.m.: El Cerrito vs. No. 8 Clayton Valley-Concord; 8 p.m.: Menlo-Atherton vs. San Leandro
Monday
MLK I Have a Dream Classic (At Merritt College-Oakland)
Noon: Piedmont vs. Envision-Oakland; 1:45 p.m.: Mt. Diablo-Concord vs. Santa Cruz; 3:30 p.m.: No. 16 University vs. Skyline-Oakland; 5:15 p.m.: Castro Valley vs. Fremont-Oakland; 7 p.m.: Grant-Sacramento vs. Oakland
21st MaxPreps/De La Salle MLK Classic (At St. Mary’s College)
10 a.m.: No. 3 Las Lomas-Walnut Creek vs. St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo; 11:45 p.m.: Moreau Catholic-Hayward vs. Woodcreek-Roseville; 1:30 p.m.: Oak Park vs. No. 19 Valley Christian; 3:15 p.m.: No. 2 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland vs. Pleasant Grove-Utah; 5 p.m.: Damien-La Verne vs. No. 15 De La Salle-Concord; 6:45 p.m.: No. 1 Salesian-Richmond vs. Modesto Christian