Undeniably good
Cal State Fullerton’s Josh Akognon has been double-teamed, face-guarded and hounded by box-and-one defenses.
Yet the points haven’t stopped coming.
Akognon scored 41 against Hawaii, 24 against Wake Forest -- a team later ranked No. 1 -- and 41 again against Cal State Bakersfield.
And just when it began to appear the defensive attention lavished on him by Big West Conference coaches who know his abilities would thwart Akognon’s output, he scored 31 against Long Beach State on Thursday -- including the game-winning jumper in the final moments.
“We tried to deny him, double him, and we did a good job in the first half,” Long Beach Coach Dan Monson said.
Akognon scored 23 in the second.
“A player like that, once he gets in the flow, then he’s off and running,” Monson said. “We did a pretty good job on Dionte Christmas from Temple, Tajuan Porter at Oregon.
“He was the best kid we’ve seen all year.”
Akognon -- pronounced ah-KOY-uhn -- is the No. 8 scorer in the nation, with a 23.4-point average. He was as high as No. 3 before he hit the Big West.
That’s when Cal State Northridge held him to eight and UC Irvine to 12. His average against Big West teams is only 19.9, markedly lower than his average against everybody else.
“Nobody has played him like we saw in the preseason, with one guy on him in a normal defense,” Fullerton Coach Bob Burton said. “They might put one guy on him, but he never leaves him, he stays with him and face-guards him. It’s almost like a box and one.”
At least Akognon hasn’t gotten the treatment Davidson’s Stephen Curry did when Loyola (Md.) put two players on him no matter where he went. Curry, the nation’s leading scorer -- and a friend of Akognon’s since they met at a summer camp -- took the two players to the corner.
He went scoreless, but he watched his teammates play four-on-three and win by 30.
Akognon hasn’t faced any tactic quite like that. But being the focus of every defense is the challenge for the maybe-5-foot-11 NBA hopeful who started his career at Washington State before transferring to Fullerton because of the lower-scoring, defensive style favored by former coach Dick Bennett and his son and successor, Tony Bennett.
He landed at Fullerton with an endorsement from UCLA Coach Ben Howland, who watched Akognon score 25 points -- all in the second half -- in a close game against the Bruins in 2006.
“When I found out he was going to transfer, I called Ben and he said, ‘That’s a no-brainer. We had a hard time guarding him,’ ” Burton said.
Akognon, whose father is Nigerian and mother American, arrived in Pullman, Wash., from Casa Grande High in Petaluma, Calif., as part of a freshman class that included Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver. Sitting out at Fullerton after transferring, he watched his friends carry the once-dismal Cougars to the NCAA tournament in 2007.
“That made me work that much harder to try to make it happen for my team, so I could experience it too,” Akognon said.
Improbably, he did, when Fullerton reached the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 1978. Akognon scored 31 points in a 71-56 loss to Wisconsin in the first round, and the Titans’ trip was over.
“It was crazy, a police escort and everything. You’re thinking, Duke and North Carolina, this is how they live,” he said.
The only starter back from that team, Akognon is the focal point, and everyone knows it.
“It gets frustrating, just for the simple fact that you want to do so much. Sometimes the defensive attention just will not allow it,” he said. “At the same time, it gives my teammates opportunities to score. At the end, man, if it helps us win, I’m all for it.”
Winning has been hard at times, with the Titans 10-10, 4-4 in the tightly packed Big West.
“I told the guys, the one thing you have to understand coming out of this conference is everything depends on the Big West tournament,” Akognon said. “The only thing that matters in the season is the NCAA tournament, and the only way you can get to that is to win our tournament.”
Akognon’s prospects after college are uncertain. It’s possible he could be drafted, but more likely he’ll have to try the route taken by former Titan Bobby Brown. Brown, who signed with the Sacramento Kings after going undrafted, is averaging almost 15 minutes a game.
Akognon has more challenges than the 6-2 Brown, even though he jokes he is “the giant of my family.” His father, Emmanuel, the pastor of Village Baptist Church in Marin City, is 5-5, and his mother, Alfreda, is 5-4.
But Akognon received some good reviews after declaring for the NBA draft after last season, later withdrawing without hiring an agent.
“I think the league is a little more understanding of lack of size when they see players like Jameer Nelson,” said an NBA executive who attended a workout where Akognon went against D.J. Augustin, the former Texas guard now with the Charlotte Bobcats.
“One thing about him, he can really score the ball. A small guard has to be a playmaker, though, and he doesn’t really get after it defensively. If you don’t do that, you’re not going to last very long.”
Akognon knows he’ll have to do more.
“Coach Dick Bennett used to always tell me I have all the tools to be a great defender,” he said. “He said I’m low to the ground and I’m quick. But I’m always just holding out for something else, for the offensive end or whatever.”
He also knows he’ll need to show he can play the point.
“Teams were asking if I was going to play point guard, but Coach Burton doesn’t want me to pass the ball the whole time, he wants me to shoot,” Akognon said. “He said what they want to see might not be best for the team. A lot of those questions will have to be answered this summer, but as far as this team, I can’t really do that right now.”
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