J.P Tokoto: From Soccer Legend to Basketball Prodigy

By Jody Demling,The Courier-Journal

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — J.P. Tokoto might be a basketball phenom these days, but his athletic interest began on the pitch.

His grandfather and namesake, Jean-Pierre Tokoto, was the youngest soccer player ever named to the Cameroon national team — he was 15 — and played that sport professionally.

But the younger Tokoto, a 6-foot-6 forward from Menomonee Falls, Wis., and a target of the University of Kentucky, has made his name on the hardwood, ranking as a top-five high school basketball player in the Class of 2012.

“I didn't even play organized ball until the sixth grade,” Tokoto said. “But I always played around with basketball. When I wasn't playing soccer I would be at the park playing with the older guys, and I just picked it up.”

His father, Trevor Trimble, said around that time Tokoto was “in the back yard always trying to dunk.”

Tokoto couldn't throw it down just yet.

But then in his second year of organized ball, Trimble said, “all of a sudden he was catching lobs and tomahawking dunks” in middle school games.

It hasn't taken colleges long to catch on.

Tokoto has college basketball royalty after him with dozens of scholarship offers, including from Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota. North Carolina and Florida are among the others looking.

Tokoto said he's too young to think about a destination, but he's “taking it all in” from the schools.

The family hopes to have his list narrowed to five schools by next summer.

“When I am playing, I don't think about (college) too much,” he said. “I just let them keep coming, settle down and watch (the coaches) come in and see what I have.”

Said Trimble: “He has done a great job with everything. The focus for us is the two H's — humility and hunger. We never want to take this for granted. When some prestigious institutions recognize you, it's an honor. But he knows he has work to do to still get better.”

Tokoto was one of the star players at the Real Deal on the Hill tournament that ended Sunday. He plays for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors and said his goal for the spring and summer is to “get the team better. When we click, we are one of the best teams in the country. We just need to click."

Sporting a 3.6 grade-point average, Tokoto averaged 12.6 points and nine rebounds a game as a freshman. He averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds as a sophomore.

But Tokoto is more pleased with his improvement than his numbers, noting his jump shot has come a long way.

“I used to not be able to hit anything, but it's coming along and my handles, too,” he said. “My dad and I are in the gym working a lot.”

So what about the college decision?

Though Tokoto said he “has no favorites,” he's made two visits to Kentucky and said he talks to its coaches often.

“Coach (John) Calipari is a great coach, and all of those guys he has put in the league,” Tokoto said. “That's one of my ultimate goals, to get to the (NBA). (Kentucky) is a choice of mine, but I am not playing favorites right now.”

Tokoto is just trying to get better. He is ranked No.4 nationally by Rivals.com and Scout.com and wants to maintain that lofty ranking throughout his career.

“It's good to be ranked your sophomore year, but where do you finish senior year?” Trimble said. “There are kids that are ranked their sophomore year, and then they disappear. He has to keep working.”

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