AURORA | Regis Jesuit junior Diani Akigbogun has been selected Colorado’s girls basketball player of the year by Gatorade.
The 6-foot-1 Akigbogun — who leads the Raiders into the Class 5A semifinals against Grandview at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Coors Events Center in Boulder — has an average of 14.2 points and 8.1 rebounds in 26 games.
Recently named to The Show along with teammate Justine Hall, Akigbogun is also the Continental League Player of the Year. Not only is she the first Regis Jesuit Girls Division basketball player to earn a Gatorade Player of the Year award, she is also the first Aurora girls basketball player ever to win the award.
“Diani was the player of the year in the conference and she consistently brings it day in and day out,” Regis Jesuit coach Carl Mattei said of Akigbogun, who has a 3.79 GPA.
“She brings it every day in practice, she leads by example and she’s becoming more vocal.”
Mattei jokingly has dubbed Akigbogun, the “Fe-Manimal,” an homage to Kenneth “Manimal” Faried of the Denver Nuggets. She has 13 double-doubles so far on the season.
Regis Jesuit had another potential player of the year candidate in Hall, who averages 16.8 points per game and was also selected to the April 6 Show game at the Pepsi Center.
Continental League coaches echo Gatorade’s decision when it came to selecting Akigbogun.
“Diani Akigbogun can score, rebound, defend and she is just so active on the court,” Chaparral head coach Tony Speights said in a statement. “She still has room to grow and she will be even better next year.”
Akigbogun is the first Aurora athlete to earn a Gatorade honor since 2011, when Rangeview quarterback Jaleel Awini was named the state’s football player of the year and Grandview catcher Greg Bird received Colorado’s baseball player of the year honor. She has a chance to match the feat of Regis Jesuit Boys Division’s Bud Thomas, who won the Gatorade boys basketball player of the year award in 2009 and 2010.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555