AK Okereke is Bringing an Old-School Move Back to Vanderbilt Basketball
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As AK Okereke takes it to the rim with his surprisingly quick first step he sometimes gets cut off, and that’s okay. When that happens, everyone in the gym is reminded that the Cornell transfer is 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds.
In other words, Okereke is bringing back The Barkley to Vanderbilt basketball.
Okereke isn’t as effective with the move as Charles Barkley was back in the day, but he was an 89th percentile post player in 2024-25 and often generated his post touches himself rather than catching the ball with his back to the basket.
A move like that demonstrates maturity and an under control game that isn’t overly flashy, but is productive. Naturally, Okereke didn’t develop his Barkley game until he got to Cornell and saw others doing it. The Vanderbilt four man has to pick and choose his spots with the move more than he did in previous seasons in the Ivy League, but he’s still got it in his bag of tricks.
Perhaps the best example to watch as Okereke looked to develop the move was former Cornell wing Chris Mañon, who later transferred to Vanderbilt for his final season of eligibility.
“When I first came [to Cornell] I would see Chris Mañon do that a lot,” Okereke told Vandy on SI over the summer. “I had a decent post game. I actually played more of like a forward, more like a traditional forward position while I was at prep, so I think just kind of developing the post game there and then kind of just continuing it at Cornell is something that definitely led to a high level of success in that particular area.”
Partly as a result of his willingness to turn a cut off drive into a post up against a smaller defender, Okereke broke out in his final season at Cornell in which he averaged 13.9 points on 59.5% shooting.
Okereke was top 20 in the country in field goal percentage and was 62nd in two-point percentage with a 65.6% mark. His efficiency was fitting on a Cornell team that often prioritized good shots over volume and ended the season with the No. 1 effective field goal percentage in the country.
“I kind of just came into the perfect situation at Cornell,” Okereke said. “They kind of identified that I was like a solid ball handler. And so I think just kind of naturally progressing into that role, especially when I got to be a sophomore and I was playing, was something that kind of just happened more naturally,”
The post game that Okereke ultimately developed while subsequently taking on a role as a point forward of sorts for Cornell was noticeable to most power-five staffs, particularly an old-school Vanderbilt assistant who has a soft spot for guys who can let the play develop and dribble into their post ups.
Perhaps what Vanderbilt assistant Rick Ray–who grew up watching Barkley’s career–noticed more than Okereke’s overpowering nature towards smaller opponents was how backing defenders down enabled him to record 4.1 assists a game, which was a top five mark in the league.
“The thing about it is that he doesn't force it,” Ray said of Okereke’s post game. “Some guy force their way into a Barclay. For him he'll get into a Barkley, but more importantly he just makes the right place on the Barclays. He's not selfish and in that situation where teams start to come over and help, he finds the open man.”
In some ways, Okereke’s unique skill–that Vanderbilt most recently saw Mañon and former swiss-army knife Jordan Wright turn to–is a reflection of him and what he does for Vanderbilt as a whole. Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington described Okereke as the guy who makes this all work on the defensive end. The Cornell transfer averages just 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, but is a glue guy of sorts for this Vanderbilt team.
The 6-foot-7 wing was a walk on at Cornell before ultimately playing his way into a scholarship guy. He’s had to earn everything that others have been given. In those ways, perhaps a move that requires everything to be acquired through bumping your way to the basket is fitting.
“There's not a lot of entitlement to a guy like AK, all he's done is work for everything he has,” Ray said. “That's also the way he plays. I think he could've scored more points for Cornell, but that's not who he is. He looks to score, but he also wants to do what's best for the team so the fact that you have a guy like that who looks like an NFL tight end, but also can pass the ball and dribble the ball, I'm just excited about the versatility that he can bring to our team.”
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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