INGLEWOOD, Calif. (BVM) – Unlike most young athletes, Clarice Akunwafo strives to make a name for herself not just on the court, but off the court as well. 

As a shy young girl, Akunwafo entered the sixth grade with anything but basketball on her mind. It was only after a lot of convincing from her friend that she reluctantly decided to try out for the school’s team. She successfully made it through tryouts and began to fall in love with the sport. That same year, her team won the championship by two points, and Akunwafo made the winning free throw. 

After that championship game, Akunwafo started getting attention as a basketball player. She recalls being invited to join several teams and was too nice to say no. As she got older, however, she realized she could only dedicate herself to a couple teams if she truly wanted to improve. Currently, she plays for the Rolling Hills Prep High School team as well as the Cal Sparks club team.

When she first started playing basketball, her goal was not to play in the WNBA, or even in college. In fact, it was something she did for fun because she genuinely enjoyed it. Since her mindset was much different from many of the other girls she played with, Akunwafo dealt with coaches who told her she was wasting her height and, as a result, was intimidated by the other tall girls she had to face. 

On the flip side, she is so thankful for the coaches who believed in her and continued to help her improve her game. 

“My coaches didn’t let me quit and are still with me to this day.” Akunwafo said of those who encouraged her. 

Standing at 6-foot-5, Akunwafo has been recognized as the No. 2 center in the nation for her class. At Rolling Hills Prep, she has averaged 20.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. 

After getting 13 offers, Akunwafo had no idea where she wanted to go. It wasn’t until her first unofficial visit to the University of Southern California that she saw her future there. Point guard Madison Campbell for the Trojans offered a lot of advice and showed Akunwafo that USC had more to offer than its athletic program. As a result, Akunwafo recently committed to USC alongside Rayah Marshall, making USC the No. 7 recruiting class for 2021. 

“I loved the campus,” Akunwafo said of her future home. “The coaches are cool, and the players are cool and it just felt perfect.”  

Another selling point of the school was its prestigious academic programs. As a child of Nigerian immigrants, Akunwafo has always made her academics her priority. With a GPA over 4.0, she plans to major in Health and Human Sciences and follow the Pre-Med track. 

Of course, the coaching staff also played a big part in Akunwafo’s decision. Associate head coach Aarika Hughes is just the type of mentor Akunwafo was looking for. Hughes works to help the players develop as women, not just basketball players. 

“Her endgame for players is for the players to walk into a room and be confident to be there and say, ‘I belong here’ and I need that,” Akunwafo shared about her future coach. 

One of Akunwafo’s goals for college is to build up her confidence both as a player and a woman. She looks up to Liz Cambage of the Las Vegas Aces who exudes that very confidence she is seeking for herself. 

Akunwafo is working on building her skills mentally and physically. This past year has been especially difficult for her to train due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With gyms closed, she has been going on runs and doing backyard workouts to stay in shape. She is also using her time at home to prepare herself mentally for competing at the next level. 

“You can be the strongest or the fastest,” she stated, “but if you’re not mentally there, you won’t be as good as you can be.” 

It was tough for her to come to terms with an abnormal senior season. The girls on the Rolling Hills Prep basketball team are really close and they were disappointed to not get to have a senior night. But as athletes all over the country are doing, these young women are trying to make the best of their situation. 

Looking back at her time at Rolling Hills Prep, Akunwafo thinks of how much fun she had being a part of the basketball team. Though the girls’ basketball coach Richard Masson is very stern and puts on an intimidating front, the team loves to joke with him. One of Akunwafo’s favorite memories was when she and her best friend would mess with him and she would see a smile crack under his serious demeanor. 

This story is a nice reminder that amid all her success as a student athlete, Akunwafo is just a normal teenager who enjoys doing normal teenager things. She loves watching movies and shows, but specifically the kind that have a deeper meaning and make you think. She loves reading and reflecting on the stories she comes across. She hopes to set a good example for her sisters. And finally, she wants to be a great basketball player, but also wants to be known for more than that. 

“When people hear my name, I want them to think ‘great student, great person.’”

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