Chris Obekpa
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Season of Glass
Member
You're assuming Nolan has perspective.
Presumably, Calhoun and his UCONN staff told Nolan he was going to play major minutes "if he worked hard" (showed up and kept his nose clean). With Sanchez, Sampson, Gift, Garret, Sir'Dom, not as much minutes available in the front court at St John's – even without the specter of Chandler whose eligibility is a huge long shot.
Also, get the feeling that Nolan is the type of kid that listens to the last person that get his ear, ala Lenny Cooke
Nolan's recruitment shouldn't effect UCONN's efforts with Obekpa. CO seems like a defensive player and Nolan appears to be stronger on offense. They would compliment each other.
Season of Glass
Member
Because Chandler has a very spotty academic record and has been linked to scandal at UCF. The NCAA has not yet granted him clearance to play college basketball and it is not a given that they will do so. (See what happened with Sampson, Pelle and Garrett, and you have to assume Chandler is on even shakier ground than those three were.)
http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/03/17/big-man-mike-chandler-waiting-to-hear-from-ncaa/
His academic record in the past doesn't mean he won't get cleared now. He has completed work since then. To say it is a "long shot" is an assumption because you don't know. His clearance has nothing to do with what happened at UCF. Louisville has a player who was in the same situation at UCF and played last year and was cleared. Let's just wait and see.
Season of Glass
Member
Yes, long shot based on assumption. We will certainly have to wait and see. However, Sampson, Garrett and Pelle also "completed work" and look where it got them? From what we have learned about Chandler's academic history, he does appear to be a long shot in my mind compared to last year's trio of recruits whose eligibility was a "sure thing" based on their successfully completing course work over the summer.
Remember our shock and pain when they weren't able to enroll at St John's last fall?
I get the impression, with the time lost taking online courses, Chandler may have too much ground to make up to enroll at a 4-year institution and play basketball — even if he is is 6'-10" and talented.
And it's not like we have a very good track record with the NCAA dating back to Walter Berry.
Understood, but if the NCAA is processing a clearance now, then he likely has fulfilled their requirements at least on paper. None of us know what classes he took, even online. Remember, people can get college degrees online now. I know the stigma got be bad but not all online courses are equal. If NCAA is looking at his work, he has his coursework done. Whether they accept it is another story.
SJU's track record with the NCAA doesn't matter at this point because Chandler isn't committed to SJU. At least not just yet. Maybe he should tell the NCAA he's looking to enroll at Ohio State or UNC to push the paperwork through??
Oh, and I believe he's 6'11... Even better!Season of Glass
Member
Understood, but if the NCAA is processing a clearance now, then he likely has fulfilled their requirements at least on paper. None of us know what classes he took, even online. Remember, people can get college degrees online now. I know the stigma got be bad but not all online courses are equal. If NCAA is looking at his work, he has his coursework done. Whether they accept it is another story.
SJU's track record with the NCAA doesn't matter at this point because Chandler isn't committed to SJU. At least not just yet. Maybe he should tell the NCAA he's looking to enroll at Ohio State or UNC to push the paperwork through??
Very true. Not a St John's commit so the point may be moot.
TRabinowitz
Member
As I said in my post about Felix, I'll say upfront that the 2 games I saw Obekpa play in yesterday were blowouts so I would love to see him vs. better competition. Here's my take though:
First off, I think services that put him as 6'8" might be undercutting him a bit. Looked about 6'9"ish but his body is pretty developed. Not a twig by any means at all. Broad shoulders and you can tell his arms are developing.
In terms of his shot blocking ability, Obekpa's timing is second to nobody. He recorded double-digit blocks in both games. What makes it even more remarkable is: he's not 6'11 or 7' and also he doesn't have very good leaping ability. His timing is just unbelievable. As Jon Rothstein tweeted, in terms of pure shot-blocking he maybe on the same level as Nerlens Noel. Nerlens has at least an inch on Obekpa as well, I'd suspect. Chris is an absolutely unbelievable shot blocker.
Here was a first though: Obekpa is basically the opposite of an offensive cherry picker. During both games there were many times in which he cherry picked while his team was on offense. He would either be very slow getting back or would hang in the back court, waiting to run back and protect his basket.
In the first game, Chris didn't seem to run the floor hard at all. It was tough to tell whether he wasn't playing hard because of the competition he was facing or whether his motor was really bad. He played harder the second game although he certainly wasn't sprinting the floor most of the time. Again, this is why I want to see him vs. better comp. I suspect he has a better motor than what was shown because scouting report keep listing his motor as being one of his stronger attributes.
Whats interesting is that because of his AMAZING timing abilities, Chris will go pursue the block most times an offensive player is in his area. This leaves him vulnerable on the boards because he is often out of position if he doesn't get a rejection. He should've had more rebounds than he wound up with and I think his pursuit of blocks is part of the reason why. He also didn't seem to have great hands as he had a tough time bringing in some rebounds and passes.
Offensively, the kid needs a lot of work. His baskets pretty much came from put backs. One person inside the basketball industry that has seen him a bunch of times has said Obekpa has "DIII offensive skills". He certainly didn't show much yesterday.
If I had to compare Obekpa and say, Orlando Sanchez, I would say that Orlando certainly has a leg up on his in terms of offensive ability. Orlando also has great hands so he has that up on Obekpa as well it seems. However it is tough to ignore the fact that Obekpa is an INCREDIBLE pure shot blocker. I think he can be a VERY good player on the next level with the right guy to push him and develop him offensively.
First off, I think services that put him as 6'8" might be undercutting him a bit. Looked about 6'9"ish but his body is pretty developed. Not a twig by any means at all. Broad shoulders and you can tell his arms are developing.
In terms of his shot blocking ability, Obekpa's timing is second to nobody. He recorded double-digit blocks in both games. What makes it even more remarkable is: he's not 6'11 or 7' and also he doesn't have very good leaping ability. His timing is just unbelievable. As Jon Rothstein tweeted, in terms of pure shot-blocking he maybe on the same level as Nerlens Noel. Nerlens has at least an inch on Obekpa as well, I'd suspect. Chris is an absolutely unbelievable shot blocker.
Here was a first though: Obekpa is basically the opposite of an offensive cherry picker. During both games there were many times in which he cherry picked while his team was on offense. He would either be very slow getting back or would hang in the back court, waiting to run back and protect his basket.
In the first game, Chris didn't seem to run the floor hard at all. It was tough to tell whether he wasn't playing hard because of the competition he was facing or whether his motor was really bad. He played harder the second game although he certainly wasn't sprinting the floor most of the time. Again, this is why I want to see him vs. better comp. I suspect he has a better motor than what was shown because scouting report keep listing his motor as being one of his stronger attributes.
Whats interesting is that because of his AMAZING timing abilities, Chris will go pursue the block most times an offensive player is in his area. This leaves him vulnerable on the boards because he is often out of position if he doesn't get a rejection. He should've had more rebounds than he wound up with and I think his pursuit of blocks is part of the reason why. He also didn't seem to have great hands as he had a tough time bringing in some rebounds and passes.
Offensively, the kid needs a lot of work. His baskets pretty much came from put backs. One person inside the basketball industry that has seen him a bunch of times has said Obekpa has "DIII offensive skills". He certainly didn't show much yesterday.
If I had to compare Obekpa and say, Orlando Sanchez, I would say that Orlando certainly has a leg up on his in terms of offensive ability. Orlando also has great hands so he has that up on Obekpa as well it seems. However it is tough to ignore the fact that Obekpa is an INCREDIBLE pure shot blocker. I think he can be a VERY good player on the next level with the right guy to push him and develop him offensively.
Season of Glass
Member
It's either down to us and UCONN and he's yanking chains of Oregon, Providence and Cincinatti or vice versa.
How sweet would it be to beat Providence out again!!!!
Per Alex Kline....
The latest on 2012 OSNA (NY) PF Chris Obekpa - http://bit.ly/KDt7UZ - St. John's & UConn still in the hunt for the 4-star prospect.
http://twitter.com/#!/TheRecruitScoop/status/200009299349606400
The latest on 2012 OSNA (NY) PF Chris Obekpa - http://bit.ly/KDt7UZ - St. John's & UConn still in the hunt for the 4-star prospect.
http://twitter.com/#!/TheRecruitScoop/status/200009299349606400