MitchMash: Akintunde Ahmad announces college plans on "Ellen"

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Akintunde Ahmad is everywhere. Even at Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Session One last weekend.

The Oakland Tech (Calif.) baseball standout and straight-A student was honored at halftime of the Oakland Soldiers' Saturday game against Team CP3. He was given a plaque and lauded over the loudspeaker for being a great example of a student-athlete who represents Oakland, which is known for its gang violence among youth and high murder rates.

Ahmad has fought through the stereotypes and peer pressure and navigated the streets to rattle off other more impressive numbers, like a 5.0 grade point average and 2,100 SAT score. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound outfielder was also the 2013 Oakland Athletic League Player of the Year after hitting nearly .500 and stealing 15 bases.

He also plays the West African drum, the trumpet and French horn for the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra.

All of it was revealed first in a column by San Francisco Chronicle writer Chip Johnson, who noted that Ahmad attended nothing but Oakland public schools.

Since the column ran earlier this month, Ahmad's young life has gone viral, starting with local television stations and then national. He and his mother Zarina were flown to New York for a MSNBC segment with Craig Melvin. Then last week, the ultimate.

Ahmad, who doesn't exactly run with the pack, took an unconventional direction from other high profile prep athletes who reveal their college choices on ESPN or during halftime of national all-star games.

He announced his decision to attend Yale on the "Ellen" show in Hollywood last week.

We're pretty sure that's a first.

He told Ellen Degeneres: "I've been a Bulldog the last four years and I'll continue to be a Bulldog at Yale University."

Ellen then promptly handed Ahmad a check for $15,000, a gift from Shutterfly.com. Ahmad's parents in the audience appeared shocked.

"It's been crazy, but all good," Ahmad said at Saturday's EYBL event, where more than 400 of the nation's top high school basketball players gathered, and college coaches too. "The 'Ellen' show was really exciting. The (check) was a little overwhelming. I'm glad I can pass on good messages."

Raised by parents who practice the Rastafari religion, Ahmad is one of six children raised in some of the toughest streets in East Oakland. At a January 2013 party that Ahmad declined to attend because he had an essay due, five people were shot, including his brother, who suffered two gunshot wounds. His brother survived but friends over the years haven't been as fortunate.

"There's plenty of people I know who have been killed," Ahmad told Johnson. "I could write a list starting in elementary school of all the people we grew up with who have been killed.

"I could have easily been caught up in that life. You don't have to be a bad person to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

So he's followed his father Mubarak's words — "I've always told my boys that it's very easy to get into trouble, but very hard to get out of it."

Instead he's just stayed busy in sports, school and music. He played basketball at Oakland Tech until his senior year, when he focused on baseball. His senior baseball campaign has been marred by a knee injury.

He was greeted at the Jackson Sports Academy in McClellan Park Saturday by a number of Bay Area natives who saw him on "Ellen," including former Oakland Tech, Cal and NBA standout Leon Powe.

"I remember watching (Powe) in the state finals at (Sleep Train Arena)," Ahmad said. "He was amazing."

Ahmad used to play with and against some of the Oakland Soldiers growing up, including Ivan Rabb, one of the nation's top juniors from Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland).

"I wish I was still playing (basketball)," he said. "But I just couldn't fit it all in."

Said O'Dowd coach Lou Richie, also from East Oakland: "He's doing enough for himself and everyone else around Oakland. He's a great example of what kids with hope, hard work and a dream can achieve."