North spotlight: A steady clip at Fridley

Fridley's Akeem Akway keeps his teammates in fighting trim.

By DAVID La VAQUE, Star Tribune

Last update: January 14, 2009 - 8:00 AM

Akeem Akway works with a brush in his left hand and a buzzing hair clipper in his right hand, concentrating on a trim while about a dozen Fridley teammates wait their turn, cracking on each other like high school boys do.

It is a Wednesday night after varsity basketball practice and The Question's barber shop is open for business. Akway's self-appointed nickname, The Question, is a play on NBA superstar Allen Iverson, widely known as The Answer.

"This keeps us out of trouble," Akway said. "We're here with the whole team, just laughing. It's given us good team chemistry."

A reserve guard on the court, Akway's greatest asset is creating camaraderie via weekly hair cuts. Game nights account for the smallest period of time teammates spend together throughout a season, so they must value something other than basketball. Junior forward Lamont Diggs said hanging out after practice "is extra time together where we can be ourselves."

Fridley entered the week 8-2 and one game out of first place in the North Suburban Conference. The Tigers beat Chisago Lakes on Jan. 6, and one teammate sarcastically congratulated Akway on scoring a season-high four points. Akway just laughed, but hanging around The Question's barber shop is not for the meek.

The team is a multicultural collection, and players tweak each others' hair styles, skin tones and facial features. Nothing is sacred but nothing is personal. There are no mirrors in The Question's barber shop but teammates see a reflection of themselves in each other.

"We're all comfortable with each other," senior guard Evan Sjodin said.

"If we can say what we say to each other in here, we can handle anything together," junior guard Jordan Halvorson said.

Most of Akway's teammates insist on cropped hair and perfectly shaped lines. Their vanity and his reputation for shenanigans allow Akway to escape much of the taunts and trash talk. He charges $4 to $6 per cut, but his sense of humor is priceless.

"I've seen him leave a patch of hair on the top of guys' heads," Tigers coach Jim MacDonald said. "One kid went to the mirror and you could hear him yell, 'Oh man! You've gotta fix that.' And Akeem said, 'Shop's closed.'"

"The clippers broke one time about halfway through my cut," Halvorson said. "He acted like he didn't know how to fix it. About 20 minutes went by before he fixed it."

Akway learned to cut hair from his older brother, Omat, whose painting of a tiger greets visitors entering the boys' locker room. Akeem's barber career began in ninth grade when his cousin, Elijah Anwey, dared to be his first client. Long-time friend Thad Picott came next. And though Akway "messed up" on his first try, Picott granted him a second chance. Picott has long encouraged Akway to believe in himself.

Akway, Picott and other Fridley ballers spent summers at Sylvan Hills Park playing from morning to sundown. But Akway always struggled to find his niche on a team. MacDonald described Akway as "always being the last kid cut" from the top youth teams.

"When I've thought about quitting, Thad discouraged me," Akway said. "These are my friends and basketball is what we do. This is where we hang out together."

His reputation as a barber is growing among Fridley students. Akway cuts hair for the boys' basketball and track and field teams as well as other students. His faculty clients include Tigers football coach Lambert Brown and wrestling coach Omar Adams.

Players said going to Akway saves them time and money. His graduation this spring means the clippers are passed down to Paye Tengben, his best friend and apprentice. Tengben, a junior guard, earns just 50 cents per cut this year but told MacDonald, "Coach, next year this is all mine." Akway taught him to cut hair, but Tengben is still honing other aspects of the trade.

"I don't know if he can do our lines," Halvorson said. "Hopefully he learns, because I don't want to go anywhere else."

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574

See Akway in action at www.startribune.com/preps