'Dynamic' Dominique Aekins flourishing in point guard role for Walnut Ridge basketball
Dominique Aekins smiles when recounting how he fell in love with basketball in elementary school.
The Walnut Ridge senior also remembers quickly learning that, because of his size, he was tagged as a point guard and little else. Aekins did not surpass 5 feet in height until late in middle school and even now stands 5-9, comparatively short in basketball.
“I’ve always been small my whole life,” he said. “(Point guard) was the position that fit me. You don’t see a lot of players my size, so point guard has always been my focus.”
Longtime friend L.J. Foster, now a 6-4 shooting guard and teammate with the Scots, took notice.
“Everybody was telling him what he could or could not do,” Foster said. “But he always stayed true to the process.”
Such determination not only has made Aekins one of the more well-rounded guards in central Ohio, it opened the door for him to sign with Division I Duquesne in November.
Aekins’ 17.5 points, 4.6 assists and 3.5 steals per game pace the Scots (10-6, 9-1 City League-South), whose hopes for their first league championship since 2020 likely ride on a Friday home game against South (12-3, 10-0).
Aekins averaged 28.2 points a season ago, cracking 40 six times and earning first-team all-district and special mention all-state honors in Division I. However, coach Chuck Jefferson cites Aekins’ rebounding – 4.5 a game this year, mostly on the defensive end, as opposed to 3.7 as a junior – as one of two particular keys to Aekins’ growth.
“With the scoring he’s done, I think people can forget how dynamic a playmaker and passer he can be,” Jefferson said.
The other key?
“He knows how to communicate to certain teammates,” Jefferson said. “A year ago, he might have just talked one way with everybody, but part of being a point guard, a floor general, is that you almost have to have 10 personalities so you can relate with everybody.”
Aekins made that a main focus in the offseason.
“At the next level, when I get there, I will have to talk more, be a leader and make sure everyone is in the right place,” he said. “We have the athletes to help me out. I don’t really have to do too much. My job is to be the coach on the floor.”
Sophomore forward Marquis Lucas adds 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Foster, who played for Mifflin the past three years and has known Aekins since elementary school, averages 12.8 points.
“At times when the offense is not flowing, Dom can get us in sets,” Foster said. “He can slow everything down. He can get everybody involved and playing together as a unit. He is the core of our team.”
Aekins started as a freshman at KIPP Columbus, although the season was limited to four games because of COVID-19. He moved to Walnut Ridge as a sophomore and made an immediate impact, averaging 18.2 points.
Aekins scored his 1,000th career point Jan. 16 against Independence and enters Tuesday’s game against Marion-Franklin with 1,111. He admitted pondering his legacy, one he hopes rivals 2020 Mr. Basketball VonCameron Davis and even the undefeated state championship team of 1971.
Banners honoring both hang in the school’s gymnasium.
“Those names are big,” Aekins said. “I want to have my name as a part of that. I want to fit in with those guys.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dominique Aekins flourishing in point guard role for Walnut Ridge
