By Jim Hague
The tale of how Comfort Akinbo became an athlete at Rutgers-Newark is amazing in its own right.
What makes it all even more remarkable is that Akinbo is a two-sport athlete at R-N - and wasn’t even recruited by the school’s coaching staffs to play either volleyball or women’s basketball.
As it turns out, Akinbo was all set to play volleyball at the University of New Haven after graduating from Woodbridge High School in 2016.
“But that just didn’t work out,” Akinbo said.
Certain that her athletic career was over, Akinbo decided to enroll instead at Rutgers-Newark and major in biology, but had no intentions or plans to participate in sports.
“I came to Rutgers-Newark because of the education,” Akinbo said. “I liked the city environment. I wanted something different than from where I was from. I was going to Rutgers to concentrate on my schoolwork. I wasn’t recruited at all.”
Akinbo spent her freshman year at R-N strictly as a student, but then started to realize that she missed participating in sports.
“I came to Rutgers-Newark too late to join a team last year,” Akinbo said. “So I just attended school. I liked being an athlete and found out I missed it. I liked being on a team.”
So Akinbo first had a friend who was on the Scarlet Raiders’ volleyball team and the friend asked Akinbo if she wanted to give it a try.
“I came to one of the workouts in the spring,” Akinbo said. “And I ended up making the team.”
Not only did Akinbo earn a spot on coach Megan Knott’s roster, but Akinbo ended up being a key contributor to the Scarlet Raiders as an outside hitter. Akinbo played in all 26 games last fall and collected 210 points and had 173 kills. Both statistical totals ranked Akinbo third on the team.
“I knew I had the ability to play,” Akinbo said. “I played a lot in high school. I knew I could handle it.”
Akinbo was used all over the court for the Scarlet Raiders.
“I ended up playing outside, opposite and middle hitter,” Akinbo said. “I thought I did pretty well in all three. I definitely like being an outside hitter more, because I can be more active and move toward the ball more. That’s where you get the highest percentage of kills.”
Once Akinbo had success with playing volleyball at R-N, then came giving basketball a try. Standing six feet tall, Akinbo certainly could find a place in third-year head coach Ashley Cieplicki’s heart.
“I had no idea who she was,” Cieplicki said. “I almost forgot how we got her. She basically expressed interest in playing by sending me an e-mail, so I told her to come in and talk to me about playing. The volleyball team was still playing, but she came in right away. She was a little quiet at first, but that changed after a while.”
Cieplicki also heard a rumor about Akinbo’s incredible jumping ability.
“Someone said that she could actually dunk a tennis ball,” Cieplicki said. “So I said, ‘Let’s see it.’ Sure enough, she got over the rim. It was pretty unbelievable.”
Akinbo was a little leery about her chances of making the Scarlet Raider roster.
“Honestly, I was pretty scared,” Akinbo said. “I was very nervous. But I had all the other girls encouraging me and I felt like this was the place where I was supposed to be.”
So Akinbo, who said she has been called “Comfy” as a nickname since she was a youngster, was comfy with the other members of the R-N women’s basketball team.
“Everyone has been calling me Comfy all my life,” Akinbo said. “I’m used to it now.”
Akinbo has a sister who is named Precious.
“So we’ve been told that having Precious and Comfort go hand-in-hand with each other,” Akinbo said. “That’s how I look at it.”
Cieplicki didn’t know what to expect from Akinbo, but it always helps having a six-foot forward who can jump to the moon on your roster.
“I’ve always been blessed with the ability to jump,” Akinbo said.
“She listens to everything we say to her,” Cieplicki said. “She plays pretty tough. She can catch the ball and has some good moves around the basket. And yes, she can jump.”
Cieplicki’s front court roster was depleted due to ineligibility at the beginning of the second semester, so Akinbo was thrust into the starting lineup, going from a little-used raw forward to the team’s premier inside power presence almost overnight.
“I didn’t know what I was capable of doing,” Akinbo said. “Coach (Cieplicki) said, ‘Hey Comfy, you’re good.’ She told me that I was better than most girls and I just had to believe it. I just went out and did my best.”
Akinbo certainly displayed her best in the Jan. 6 game against New Jersey Athletic Conference foe William Paterson. Akinbo entered that game having scored a total of 44 points all season in 12 games, but that game served as a coming out party.
Akinbo made eight of her 12 shots en route to scoring a career-best 20 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked six shots that memorable game, earning NJAC Rookie of the Week that week.
“It was so exciting,” Akinbo said. “It was one of my best athletic moments. I never scored that many points before in my life. That’s when I thought, ‘Hey, maybe I’m pretty good at this.’”
“She was pretty unbelievable that night,” Cieplicki said. “We needed her to step up because we were missing so many people and she totally did. She was unreal. She blew us out of the water. She just has a natural feel for the ball.”
Since she has received more playing time and is now entrenched as a member of the Scarlet Raiders’ starting lineup, Akinbo is averaging 5.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. She also leads the team in blocked shots with 48. No one else on the team has double figures in blocks.
“She’s shown us all what she’s capable of,” Cieplicki said. “I think a lot of it is a credit to volleyball. She’s able to time the ball and goes up to get it. Michelle Lala (an assistant on Cieplicki’s staff) is the head volleyball coach at Wayne Hills High School and Michelle told Comfy that playing basketball is a lot like volleyball in that she has to jump for the ball in basketball the same way she jumps in volleyball. Something just clicked in for Comfy, like a light bulb went off atop her head.”
Cieplicki also likes Akinbo’s personality.
“She is so much fun,” Cieplicki said. “She’s hysterical to be around. She has a dry sense of humor. She’s very sarcastic.”
Akinbo was asked to describe her sense of humor.
“My teammates may say something smart, so I mimic them,” Akinbo said. “I like doing little stuff like that. It makes everyone laugh.”
Akinbo is also an excellent student, carrying a 3.0 grade point average while she majors in biology. She hopes to become a physical therapist after she graduates from Rutgers-Newark.
“She’s the perfect student-athlete,” Cieplicki said. “She shows her dedication, carrying a great grade point average and playing two sports. She’s definitely gone far and beyond our expectations.”
That’s because there were no expectations to begin with. No one knew a thing about Comfort Akinbo’s athletic abilities - and now she’s a two-sport star at R-N.
“She’s a pleasure to have around,” Cieplicki said. “She’s a lot of fun.”
Akinbo knows that the sky’s the limit now. She’s just scratching the surface on what could be a totally remarkable career at Rutgers-Newark. Akinbo plans on graduating with her class in 2020, even though she has the extra year of eligibility to fall back on if Akinbo so chooses.
“If I only knew last year,” said Akinbo, a sophomore in terms of school, but in reality, is a freshman in eligibility. “If I knew I could do this last year, who knows what I could be doing now? But I’m here now and enjoying every minute. It’s safe to say that I’m here for good now. I just have to focus on getting better. It took a lot of work to get to this point. It’s all going very well.
