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BBall Recruiting Thread, Robert McCray ('21) commits!

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This is what a USF blog had to say when Okpomo committed to them last year.

Okpomo was originally playing at Huntington in West Virginia before transferring to Oak Hill Academy at the beginning of the school year. Oak Hill Academy is one of the top prep programs in the country for men’s basketball, producing guys like Carmelo Anthony, Rod Strickland, and Kevin Durant.

His greatest asset is clearly his size, standing as 6’10, Okpomo will slot in seamlessly after senior Antun Maricevic graduates from the program this offseason. His wingspan sits at 7’7, and his stats show he is a force in the middle for rebounds and blocks. So far this season with Oak Hill Academy (7 games), he is averaging 6 rebounds per game, 15 blocks, and 9 steals.

From Rivals:

“They love his ability to defend, switch on picks, they love his ability to rebound and they love his upside. He has a 7-foot-7 wingspan so they love his upside and where he’ll be with a couple of years of development. They think he’ll be very special for them.”

While his offense may be a bit behind his defense right now, it does not hinder how high Okpomo’s ceiling is.
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He sounds like he will be a nice rotation player on a roster that badly needs post size.

Okpomo decommitted on April 25 and we weren't the only team looking at him, so I think this is a pretty impressive get, imo, for Forbes and the staff.
 
DeacsATS said:
I mean, if Okpomo and Ingraham can give us 15-20 minutes (total), that’d probably be good enough to hold down the 5 spot.

I like the addition. Hope we can get Hinson (and a waiver) and start projecting minutes!
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Let's use 10 fouls/game at center.
 
Another report from the Tampa Bay Times:

USF confirmed Wednesday it has signed 6-foot-10 Oak Hill (Va.) Academy forward Emmanuel Okpomo, the second member of its 2020 recruiting class.

The announcement comes on the final day of the NCAA’s weeklong early signing period for basketball. Last week, the Bulls got a signature from heralded Georgia combo guard Caleb Murphy, the program’s highest-ranked signee of the Rivals era.

A Nigeria native with a 7-4 wingspan, Okpomo has played only four years of organized basketball, but has displayed significant promise as a rebounder and shot blocker to accompany his obvious physical upside.

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“He possesses many of the qualities we identify that will allow him to be a successful student-athlete during his USF career,” Bulls third-year coach Brian Gregory said in a school news release.

“He has only been playing organized basketball for the past four years, so his best basketball is clearly ahead of him. As an athletic post player, his 6-10 height and 7-4 wingspan help him to be an excellent shot blocker and rebounder on the defensive end. He is working hard to continue developing his offensive game, but his high motor and athletic talents are something we don’t have on our roster.”

Okpomo, who also previously played at Huntington (W. Va.) Prep, reportedly had offers from Connecticut, Houston and Virginia Tech, among others. He visited in late October.

“They love his ability to defend, switch on picks, they love his ability to rebound and they love his upside,” Omhar Carter, who runs a Mississippi-based hoops program and adopted Okpomo when he was 13, told Rivals.

“They think he’ll be very special for them.”

Okpomo’s arrival fills the void that will be vacated when 6-10 senior Antun Maricevic departs after this season. Point guard Laquincy Rideau is the only other senior on the roster, but Gregory’s recent announcement that 6-9 forward Mayan Kiir plans to move on leaves USF with one more scholarship to give for 2020.
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He was recruited by our old pal Brian Gregory.

 
Decent offer list based on ranking....UConn USF Houston VTech VCU ETSU
 
I like this pick up along with the hiring of the Lithuanian big man as our player development coach. The kid has a lot of tools.
 
Have to love his physical tools obviously. And this team will desperately need rebounding and defense in the post for the near term even if that’s all he can bring.
 
We have at least three spots open for the Class of 21. I'd like to see at least two of them be Top 75 players...hopefully all three.
 
Seems like as good as we could do this late in the game. Hopefully Forbes can cobble together 40 minutes in the post between these bigs.
 
MikeDeac said:
I’m in the same boat you are. When it was Pitino and Petrino I had no respect for their coaches now with MacK and Satterfield I think they are blessed with two of the best coaches in the league looking into the future.
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Agree. Both are very good coaches.
 
I like picking up the guys with the big upside. Those guys all transferred under Manning after a year or two. I think we get athletes who can play some defense and it is a whole new wake identity
Very excited to have a coach. We will play defense which will be a welcome change.
 
Good recruit from a great high school program that wins. Limited video confirms he protects the rim, rebounds and dunks. Great length. Ensures depth at center and that allows Mucius and Massoud to focus on the forward positions. With a sophomore and two freshmen at center there will be plenty of competition for minutes. Should prove interesting.
 
It is funny to me that I can find more videos of Okpomo as an 8th grader in ostensibly his first or second year of basketball than I can find of him from his junior/senior years.

I can't think of any reasons why that would be the case, aside from the obvious (that they'd be unkind).
 


No idea if Emma Okpomo is our guy (I assume it is)... But here is a video posted back in 2014 (where you have to assume he is about 12 years old and has literally just started playing basketball).

I found this, but nothing more recent than 2017.
 
To be clear, I am not questioning whether or not Okpomo is a good addition. I think he is.

I watched a few Oak Hill games from last year (parts of them, at least)... As those are easier to find.

Okpomo looks to be a very solid defender and a capable rebounder. If he can do those things and also just finish from close in on putbacks and lobs, he'll be a net positive right away.

He started for Oak Hill at C (in the games that I saw)... Offense was very limited. Defense was better than I expected... Lots of blocked shots, at least. Rebounded the ball strongly when it was in his area.
 
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