Josh Akognon had a Forrest Gump-type career navigating the wild world of professional men’s basketball.
Playing against Luka Doncic in Spain, fighting Stephon Marbury in China, trading personal life stories with Vince Carter, playing in the 2016 Olympic Games and suiting up alongside NBA Hall of Famers like Dirk Nowitzki and Tracy McGrady — Akognon could fill a book with the unique and life-changing experiences that he encountered chasing his hoops dreams.
Josh Akognon, lower right, as a basketball player at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma. (Jeremy Russotti).
“Just so many different stories like where I kind of forgot where I came from, but when you look back on it, it’s like, man, I did a lot of stuff and met a lot of people,” Akognon told The Press Democrat recently.
Now, the Casa Grande graduate is coming back to Sonoma County to share his knowledge and passion for the game with the next generation. He’s holding a three-day camp for kids at the Bunker House in Santa Rosa from Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 22-24, partnering with his former high school coach, Jeremy Russotti, a founder of Prolific Prep — one of the top prep basketball academies in the country.
Akognon and Russotti, an Analy graduate, both have deep experience in skills training, but this will be their first foray back into their own backyard.
The two have been close for well over 20 years now. Russotti coached Akognon during his prep days at Casa Grande in the early 2000s. Akognon averaged 30 points per game as a senior and earned a Division I scholarship to Washington State but put himself on the map after he transferred to Cal State Fullerton for the 2007-08 season.
He averaged over 20 points per game in his two seasons for the Titans, helping lead them to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 30 years as a junior and being named the Big West Player of the Year as a senior.
Over the next 10 years he played at all levels professionally – in China, Spain, Estonia, and even in the NBA for a brief stint. He appeared in two games for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2012-13 season and was a member of the Nigerian national team in the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
Akognon called it a career in 2020 after in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a high-level invitational tournament for former college and professional players. His one game of action in the TBT was his first time playing since recovering from a serious knee injury in Spain the year prior.
“When I was out there on the court, there were spots I wanted to get to on the court and I was just like ‘Man, I can’t get there,’” Akognon recounted. “I had an understanding that I had to put in the work in and all that, but there was also part of me that was like, ‘I’m tired.’ I knew what it took to get back to that level but I just felt tired and my kids were growing up. I kinda thought that this was the best time to hang it up and start life in another direction.”
Since retiring from playing, Akognon, now 39, has stayed busy. He’s an investor in an upscale restaurant on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, owns a percentage of a sports agency that represents nearly 60 WNBA players, operates a training facility out of a church he bought and converted into a gym in Topeka, Kansas, where he lives with his family, and runs his own personal training company called Kanali Training.
Akognon knew he wanted to stay around the game after his playing days but wanted to do it his own way. He said he’s not built for holding a clipboard on a bench. Instead, he wanted to personally give the next generation of players the same experiences he had learning the game while growing up in Petaluma.
“Being able to see the kids I work with be able to get that same enjoyment from succeeding on a different skill move or being able to make eight, nine, 10 shots in a row, or seeing the excitement in their face, it just takes me back to when I was a kid,” he said. “Those things push me to keep going back in the gym.”
Akognon’s camp is designed for all ages and skill levels and will feature “a lot of challenging drills and skill work,” he said.
“It’s going to be a fun time,” he added.
Spots are still open and sign-up information can be found at [thebunkerhoophouse.com.](https://thebunkerhoophouse.leagueapps.com/camps/4817394-josh-akognon-winter-camp)