Ebuka Okorie's NBA Decision Leaves Stanford Facing Major Offseason Questions

It's official. Ebuka Okorie is heading to the NBA Draft. After a dominant freshman campaign, questions started to come up on if Okorie would be a one-and-done and enter the draft or return for another year at Stanford.

On Thursday, April 9, Okorie finally made his decision, opting to forgo the remaining three years of his eligibility and turn pro. A projected late first round pick, Okorie should have no problems finding a home in the NBA.

Given the emergence of last year's Stanford draftee Maxime Raynaud this season with the Sacramento Kings, there may be more teams ready to take a chance on a prospect with tools and a little less name recognition.

Impact on Stanford

But Okorie's departure makes things tough for Stanford, especially since he was the star of the team from the moment he stepped foot on the floor. Averaging 23.2 points per game, and breaking the ACC record for most 30-point games in a season by a freshman, Okorie was a big reason why the Cardinal won as many games as they did.

Still, the Cardinal fell well short of their expectations and missed March Madness yet again, extending their streak of missing the NCAA tournament to 12 years.

Without Okorie, the Cardinal need to find a new identity while also figuring out where to turn to fill Okorie's shoes.

Incoming talent

The transfer portal is open, and the Cardinal will go all-in on trying to land some new talent, but they also have a large recruiting class set to come in, which includes multiple guards with similar builds to Okorie such as Centennial High School's Isaiah Rogers and St. Joseph-Santa Maria's Julius Price.

Both guys are highly touted recruits that have been rated as four-stars, but it is not guaranteed that they will reach the same heights as freshmen that Okorie did.

The Cardinal could choose to find a new guard in the portal, but with Stanford lacking overall team success in recent years and most college basketball players wanting to find a place where they can at least make the NCAA tournament, it is hard to envision the Cardinal landing a top transfer portal guard.

But Kyle Smith's scheme brings out the best in his players, with guys like Okorie, Maxime Raynaud and Jaylen Blakes breaking out under Smith. If Rogers and Price come in and show that they are ready to make immediate impacts, then playing in Smith's scheme could help them enough success to make the Cardinal a competitive team yet again.

Whatever approach the Cardinal decide to take will be a big decision though. Hired from Washington State after guiding the Cougars to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 16 years, Smith came to The Farm with the same goal in mind. Failing to reach that goal after two seasons, the sense of urgency to win now is at an all-time high.

Relying mostly on freshmen, especially for a rebuilding program like Stanford, is risky. But if Smith has proven anything, it's that he can win games no matter who is on the floor.

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