Women’s Basketball Adds Akins from NCAA Transfer Portal

Canisius head women's basketball coach Tiffany Swoffard announced Wednesday that Jania Akins has been signed to the Golden Griffins roster for the 2025-26 academic year.

The first Division I transfer of the spring recruiting cycle, Akins joins the Blue and Gold as a transfer from Mercer University and will be enrolled as a redshirt freshman. The Chicago, Ill., native will major in finance at the University.

"Jania is an excellent addition to this year's signing class," said Swoffard "She comes from a winning pedigree and consistently competed for state championships at Norcross High School. Jania has the ability to score the basketball at high level and create easy scoring opportunities for her teammates; her impact will be felt on both sides of the ball."

Akins was sidelined her freshman season at Mercer due to injury, and will enter Canisius with four years of eligibility after taking a medical redshirt.

Akins was a highly successful player at Norcross High School in Atlanta, Ga., under coach Ashley Clanton. As a junior, she was named Region 7 Class 7A Player of the Year after averaging 18.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. She guided the Blue Devils to three straight Region 7 championships (2021-2024), helping guide the squad to consecutive state championship finals appearances in 2022 and 2023, winning the state title in 2022 in a 77-60 victory over Brookwood.

Her high school accolades include three-time All-Region 7A First Team honors, being named to the All-Gwinnett County First Team in three consecutive seasons and being named to the GHSA All State team in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

At Norcross, she is the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals with 224 and is the single season record holder in three pointers made with 89 in the 2021-22 season. Akins also ranks first on Norcross' all-time steals list with 295, third in assists with 328 and fifth in total points with 1715 during her high school career.

"I didn't just end up here," Akins said "I chose this place because something in it felt like home, like possibility, like the next chapter waiting to be written."

Akins adds to the recruiting class 2025-26 recruiting class of incoming freshman Molly Mescall and junior college transfer Kelsey Bess.

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