(04-11-2020 05:13 PM)dc1 Wrote: Huskies sign 6’7-6’8 Chinedu Okanu a center from Vincennes University
Good catch!
Seems a little short to play C at NIU but still is a big body.
Okanu is a 6'7" C who was a 2* recruit out of Thea Bowman Leadership Academy (the same high school that Brandon Johnson went to in Gary, IN) but he was born in Nigeria. Okanu started out at Vincennes University (Vincennes, IN) where he played in 23 games averaging 2.3 ppg/1.7 rpg shooting 54% from the field and 66.7% from FT.
Honestly, other than being a big strong body, I don't see the attraction. I guess he can fill Chris Johnson's role off the bench if Johnson becomes a starter or 6th/7th man type. Ultimately, he sounds like roster filler.
What, if anything, I can possibly draw from this and the fact that they still have 4 outstanding offers to JUCO players and only (to the best of my knowledge) 2 scholarship slots available (if Travis is gone), I'd say they may simply not interested in actually bringing in any of those freshman who were offered. And, honestly, they weren't that good anyway.
Having (currently) 5 sophomores on the roster (and 3 juniors...any possibly more with all the JUCOs that are possibilities), maybe Montgomery isn't too worried about filling up the freshman class. It's not a terrible idea. And then, going into 2021-22, they'd have a senior/junior heavy team and still 5 scholarships to offer that next class.
Anyway, just thinking out loud here.
Btw, back to Okanu, Vincennes is typically pretty good in the JUCO ranks and last year was no exception. The Trailblazers went 34-2 averaging 91 poitns per game. In Division 1 JUCO, Vincennes qualified for the National Tournament seeded number 10 in and, obviously the championship was canceled like everything else, but they had an impressive run up to that point too, beating a number of top teams in their region.