James Okonkwo Has Arrived & That's Bad News for the Big 12
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Bob Huggins has long told the media the potential of James Okonkwo. He has said time and time again that at some point, he's going to surprise some people. And right now, he's doing exactly that.
For the first 19 games or so, Okonkwo saw limited action and showed flashes of the player he has become. It didn't click for him until that night in Lubbock when he went up and snatched the ball with two hands, recording a Sagaba Konate-esque block. Really what that block did was give the youngster confidence.
In last night's 93-61 win over Oklahoma, Okonkwo notched his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Over the last four games (Texas Tech included), he is averaging 5.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game while averaging only 15 minutes of floor time.
Due to the depth at the center position, Okonkwo isn't going to be asked to play heavy minutes, but certainly can if needed. Huggins hinted at increasing his role a few games back and one can assume if he continues to make this big of an impact, that role will only grow larger.
"They both just keep getting better and better," Huggins said about Okonkwo and fellow big man Mohamed Wague. "I think James has made tremendous strides. He's a guy who could end up being a force in college basketball if he continues to improve, if he continues to work at it, continues to grow and understand. You're talking about a guy who was a tennis player. He continues to get better and better and I think our other guys are starting to understand how talented he is, so they're much more encouraged by where he could go. But I think more importantly, they're really encouraging him to continue to improve, to continue to work at it. I mean, there's no possible way he goes to the line and makes two free throws before. And he's pretty consistently went to the free throw line and made free throws. He consistently blocks shots, he can rebound the ball in a crowd."
The last time West Virginia had an elite rim protector, they were playing for conference championships. Advancing deep in the conference tournament this season will be a challenge but the bright side is Okonkwo and Wague, who had three blocks vs Oklahoma, are both sophomores. These two, in particular, are just scratching the surface and are just now starting to figure things out. This gives hope to West Virginia fans that the Mountaineers can return to national prominence sooner than later.
As far as this season is concerned, there seems to be a new attitude and mindset with this team. Since that switch flipped for Okonkwo, West Virginia has won three of its last four. In that same timeframe, Erik Stevenson has found his shot and has posted two 30+ point outings.
"We started out the conference year missing layup after layup," said Huggins. "Two-footer after two-footer. We had opportunities to just go to the free throw line and just make one out of three, we made none. We had a chance to win the game at Oklahoma. We barely hit the rim on two of them. But I think we have guys that haven't played a whole lot in this league and with this kind of setting, I don't think the majority of these guys...you think the majority of these guys ever played in front of 14,000 people? I think they're starting to understand. I think they're starting to feel better about themselves, feel more comfortable."
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