The highest ranked of Georgetown's four men recruiting class in 2018-19, James Akinjo quickly established himself as a mainstay in the Hoyas' backcourt.

A native of Oakland, CA, Akinjo arrived as the San Francisco Chronicle Metro Player of the Year, averaging 20.7 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. As a freshman, he finished second in scoring, with 24 of 33 games in double figures and contributing 173 assists, tying the freshman record held by Allen Iverson in 1994-95. He scored 25 points on two occasions, including a late season upset of Marquette. At season's end, Akinjo was named the Big East Rookie of the Year.

Over Georgetown's first seven games of the 2019-20 season, Akinjo matched his freshman numbers with a healthy 13.4 points per game. While there had been rumblings that Akinjo was not pleased with coach Patrick Ewing's offensive rotation, he didn't say anything about it outside the locker room. If there was ongoing dissatisfaction, however, it appeared to manifest itself in the second half of the Nov. 30, 2019 game with UNC-Greensboro. Akinjo missed all eight attempts after halftime in a 65-61 loss; perhaps most surprising, his one assist in the game tied his career low.

Two days later, Georgetown announced without further comment that Akinjo had left the team. In a case of bad timing, the release coincided with civil allegations discovered that same evening against three other players that subsequently left the team as well--Akinjo was not cited in any of the charges, which were eventually dropped. A letter from athletic director Lee Reed confirmed this, noting that "the allegations do not involve James Akinjo."

On Dec. 31, 2019, Akinjo announced a transfer to Arizona for the 2020-21 season, averaging 15.6 points per game and earning first team All-Pac-12 honors before transferring to Baylor for the 2021-22 season, where he was a first team All-Big 12 selection. Nonetheless, Akinjo was undrafted in the NBA.