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'14 MA PF/C Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV signee)

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Buckskin86

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Center
Wilbraham, Massachusetts
Wilbraham And Monson Academy
AAU: Mass Rivals
Ht:6'9"
Wt:220 lbs

Alex Kline ‏@TheRecruitScoop

Ohio State has offered 2014 Mass Rivals (MA) PF Goodluck Okonoboh.
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https://twitter.com/TheRecruitScoop/status/356967572412968960

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixQnWFnMY74"]Goodluck Okonoboh Premier Shot Blocker In The Nation Official Jr Season Mixtape - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4xwcFCBkac"]Goodluck Okonoboh is a MONSTER - Indiana Offer - Top 20 Junior in the Country - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U44041GeTQ8"]Goodluck Okonoboh tells the story behind his name - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRWsLyjKhU4"]Goodluck Okonoboh talks about factors in his college decision - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IIkcxPkm1w"]Goodluck Okonoboh talks about recruiting - YouTube[/ame]
 
Watched a game at the Adidas Invitational. Didn't perform all that well on offense- only like 6 points I think. Has good tools on offense, just needs more time. But he was a presence on defense in the paint and passes all of the look tests for an athletic big man.

Most impressive play, however, was Goodluck going after a ball on the sideline and saving it from going out of bounds with some speed and some fancy footwork before completely hurdling the water cooler cart on the sideline. Completely cleared the thing. Then hustled back into the play.

Fans, coaches- everyone in the gym was buzzing.
 
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OHSportsFan;2357118; said:
Watched a game at the Adidas Invitational. Didn't perform all that well on offense- only like 6 points I think. Has good tools on offense, just needs more time. But he was a presence on defense in the paint and passes all of the look tests for an athletic big man.

Most impressive play, however, was Goodluck going after a ball on the sideline and saving it from going out of bounds with some speed and some fancy footwork before completely hurdling the water cooler cart on the sideline. Completely cleared the thing. Then hustled back into the play.

Fans, coaches- everyone in the gym was buzzing.
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This article agrees with a lot you said

Which 2014 prospect will struggle most at the college level?
  • Goodluck Okonoboh: 14 percent
  • Trey Lyles: 11 percent
  • Daniel Hamilton: 8 percent
  • Kevon Looney: 6 percent
  • Cliff Alexander: 6 percent
  • Joel Berry: 6 percent
  • Emmanuel Mudiay: 6 percent
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On Goodluck Okonoboh: ?He's a 6-foot-8 center without offense. And he's not Nerlens Noel.?
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Goodluck Okonoboh received the most votes, primarily for his lack of offensive production at this point. He's one of the elite shot-blockers in the country, but his offense is lagging behind his defense right now. Often compared to former AAU and prep school teammate Nerlens Noel, Okonoboh will need to become a more dangerous offensive player in order to make an immediate all-around impact. The rest of the players receiving multiple votes focus mainly on one deficiency in their game.
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I'm not as harsh as these critics, if he comes in and is a defensive stopper for us in the post, what else do you expect? I think most people recognize he's a non-threat on the offensive side but OSU's system isn't built around a post threat so he's a pretty solid fit for us, IMO.
 
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bigdog3300 said:
This article agrees with a lot you said

I'm not as harsh as these critics, if he comes in and is a defensive stopper for us in the post, what else do you expect? I think most people recognize he's a non-threat on the offensive side but OSU's system isn't built around a post threat so he's a pretty solid fit for us, IMO.
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Agreed.

But I still really do like his tools on offense- jumper is decent form but needs reps, he's quick, he sets decent screens and knows how to roll and move off of them to the hoop for easy buckets (dunks), he definitely prefers to try to be a face up player and while there isn't a back to the basket game he can pull off a spin move and get to the hoop on bigger/slower players. Not going to be an offensive threat any time soon, but he's a lot better to work with than a lot of big guys because he seems much more fluid with his body.

Defense- rim-protector, 'nuff said. Real glad to see the Bucks made his top 5, though I have no clue how where this one will end up.
 
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I think OSU's system is absolutely at its best with a low block scorer and its what Matta has been trying to sell top notch bigs the last 3 years. Our offense was at its best in '10 when we surrounded Sullinger with top notch shooters. Now, I think Matta's offense is flexible enough that its not a requirement to have an offensive presence in the post, but clearly its his preference.

Looking at our roster makeup, I would think a top quality big would be drooling at coming here in '14. We'll have some outstanding perimeter players and unless AW or TMAc make some strides, there is no reason a top 10-15 big wouldn't win the starting spot.
 
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Certainly 2010 they had a very good offense even without much scoring from the post, but they were led by ET's Naismith performance. 2010-11 with Sully, that was a great offense but they had some clunker games (FSU, NW, UK). Last year was another season where not a lot of offensive production from the 5 position yet they ended up with a solid offense overall - you could argue that it was an even better offense than 2011 because the bad offensive games were better than the bad games in 2011. Clearly Matta has been able to get the offense to work even without an elite offensive presence at the 5 spot. However, I'd just as soon want them to get someone who projects as a serious offensive threat at the 5, and I'm not sure Okonoboh is that type of player. It's frustrating that Matta hasn't been able to land a superstar C to follow Sully, but that's how it goes for most teams in college basketball - there aren't a lot of good scoring Cs out there, and usually the good ones don't stick around long. But certainly a C like Okonoboh can be serviceable. You only have one ball to play with anyway, with the rate OSU is recruiting and the big fish out there in Ohio in 2015 and 2016, it wouldn't necessarily be a problem to get a C who's more of a defensive specialist. But yeah, you'd like to have one of the top bigs see himself as the missing piece to the puzzle.
 
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Matta's offense is one that morphs to fit the talents of the players - I wouldn't say it isn't built for a scoring C, because it has been in the past. Clearly they weren't trying to get he ball to the post much last year, but when they had a good big man who could score, they got plenty of opportunities. Even Oden, who some maligned his lack of opportunities, if you watch how often he got the ball it doesn't necessarily back up that complaint because a lot of times he passed, turned it over, or got fouled without registering an FG attempt. It takes a special offensive talent to command a lot of post entry feeds, and clearly Okonoboh is not that type of player at this point.
 
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Our offense was good in '10. The next year we replaced a Naismith winner with a frosh PG who was offensively challenged and a frosh center and we were by far the best offensive team in the country.

As I mentioned, Matta is flexible enough to run the offense to suit his teams talents. I don't think there is any question that Matta prefers to have a center who can score and who he can surround with shooters and slashers. Will we be a better team this year if AW can post up and force a double team, or if he just grabs some rebounds and finishes on dump offs?
 
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Ohio State's offense aside. I would love to have Goodluck become a Buckeye. He might not be a one and done guy like all of the other 2014 big men that Ohio State is looking at and that would be very nice. I know that Ken Johnson did not play under Matta but he certainly contributed to the Ohio State basketball program in a very good way and Goodluck sort of reminds me of him.
 
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LitlBuck said:
Ohio State's offense aside. I would love to have Goodluck become a Buckeye. He might not be a one and done guy like all of the other 2014 big men that Ohio State is looking at and that would be very nice. I know that Ken Johnson did not play under Matta but he certainly contributed to the Ohio State basketball program in a very good way and Goodluck sort of reminds me of him.
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I watched Goodluck at the Elite 24 last weekend, he really played well. There's a big difference between Goodluck and the vast majority of OSU frontcourt (4/5) players lately - he is so much more athletic and agile, it's not even close. Goodluck I think would be a perfect fit for OSU and he would be an extraordinary asset to the team with his defensive ability. I think Goodluck is on par with the likes of Turner as far as the impact he will have as a freshman, but you're right he could stay around in college longer because Turner has the "potential" attached to him that can help him go after a year even if he doesn't play great, whereas Goodluck is going to have to earn whatever draft stock he can get with his play.

I do think it's worth noting that Okonoboh chose to stay an extra year in high school to continue his development before going to college - certainly that is an indication that he values improvement ahead of instant gratification. He does have a ways to go with his ballhandling skills, and decision-making when he has to do something with the ball other than catch and dunk. But no doubt he could fit what OSU needs in the 2014 class in a big way. I think people should regard him just as highly (if not moreso) than Turner considering the chances that Okonoboh stays more than a year are much higher.
 
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