Chris Obekpa

Welcome Chris.

On paper this class is now in he 10-15 range. Would be top 10 if you add in branch and the jucos
 
This is superb news.

Obekpa's presence will be felt right from the start in practice and in games. 

Welcome aboard Chris.
 
 Its been a good summer to be a Johnny fan! Welcome aboard Chris!

Next challenge who is going to be the first person to turn this into a 2012/2013 starting line up thread?
 
 Its been a good summer to be a Johnny fan! Welcome aboard Chris!

Next challenge who is going to be the first person to turn this into a 2012/2013 starting line up thread?
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The time is good for a thread like that to be started.

Lets just make sure its stand alone and not part of this :p
 
Ohhh yeah! how great is this? All the haters that said Lavin was done due to his illness or that he wanted to go back to cali, now look. He put together a very solid recruiting class that addressed our needs, and did it well. Smiling ear to ear right now. On ward and upward and welcome CO.  
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Have no fear.
Some 'fans' will still find something to complain about here. It's coming. :whistle:
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They already have Moose-remember CO is a D3 level recruit offensively speaking. :)
 
Congrats on the pick up. He should be a good one. 
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That is a very classy post considering you were recently in the cross hairs by a few members, whether deserved or not. It shows that we can sometimes agree when we don't have the same rooting interests. Kudos.
 
 awesome news they will work on his offensive game but we have enough guys that can score we havent had a defensive presence like this in the middle in my lifetime and maybe now with him and sanchez we will no longer get murdered on the glass.
 
Congrats on the pick up. He should be a good one. 
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It's very easy for fans of other teams to post here and annoy us and disappear once good news happens for us with a recruit we were both after.

You didnt and as others just said a very classy post by you 
 
I'm sure it has been posted, but just a refresher...

=youtube_gdata_player
 
 A great get........Coach Lav is like a PacMan when he recruits! We are blessed to have him.
 
 Thanks, Coach Lavin! This is a great pick up. Welcome CO, we are happy to have you here! I can't wait for the season to start!
 
 A BIG welcome to Big Chris!!!! As some have pointed out Chris is 6'8 or 6'9 but he already has the wing-span of a seven footer. If he grows 1 or 2 inches, he will be a mini Ewing! LOL!!
 
 Fantastic news! Welcome aboard CO.

Coach keeps on delivering. Excited for this season, but even more pumped about the next few years. What Lav is building doesnt look like a one-year kind of team We're shaping up to be a very competitive program for a number of years

Just what we've been dreaming of and waiting on for a long time.
 
As I said 2+ years ago when Steve got the job and the Redman board graciously allowed me to join y'all here. Steve Lavin is a different kind of animal, and he didn't come back to coaching to "settle" for "good" or "very good". Despite the negativity of Bruin fans, he had ALREADY acchieved those goals in his coaching career. His new gameplan is for "excellence" and "greatness".  That's why he chose THIS school, put together THIS coaching staff, and especially why he has targeted and landed the players he has. Would have been real easy to have "settled" for the signed 6 we already had, and move on to next year's recruiting. But even with multiple NBA and NBDL level centers developed in his 7 year UCLA career (Jelani McCoy, Dan Gadzuric, Jerome Moiso, Ryan Hollins, Mike Fey), he's never had that potentially GREAT defensive center. McCoy was the closest, but he smoked himself out of his potential collegiate greatness.

Folks are picturing St. Johns as some wild run-n-gun offensive team. That may well be. But if you look at the kids that have truly been targeted and landed, the Lavin Gameplan is pretty obvious. I haven't read a single article this year where the subject is brought up that Obekpa isn't considered at WORST the 3rd best defensive center in high school this year. Rivals branded Jamal Branch as the BEST defensive player in all of high school just a year ago. In a listing of the top 10 defensive players in the entire 2011 high school class, Branch was joined by BOTH Amir Garret and Sir Dom.

Obekpa is very likely the missing peice between "good" and "very good" for the coming year - and maybe even a cornerstone for "great" in year or two years or 3 years after that. Obekpa can be that piece that Norvell Pelle (6'10 defensive stalwart and shotblocking savant) MIGHT have been had he qualified.

Excuse the over exuberance. But after 16 years as a lone voice in the night (a UCLA Lavin fan!), every single bit of ammo that can be loaded into the "I told you so" arsenal MUST be savored!

Congratuations to Chris on making a delayed but CORRECT decision. And to the staff for keeping the "eye on the prize" throughout.
 
As I said 2+ years ago when Steve got the job and the Redman board graciously allowed me to join y'all here. Steve Lavin is a different kind of animal, and he didn't come back to coaching to "settle" for "good" or "very good". Despite the negativity of Bruin fans, he had ALREADY acchieved those goals in his coaching career. His new gameplan is for "excellence" and "greatness".  That's why he chose THIS school, put together THIS coaching staff, and especially why he has targeted and landed the players he has. Would have been real easy to have "settled" for the signed 6 we already had, and move on to next year's recruiting. But even with multiple NBA and NBDL level centers developed in his 7 year UCLA career (Jelani McCoy, Dan Gadzuric, Jerome Moiso, Ryan Hollins, Mike Fey), he's never had that potentially GREAT defensive center. McCoy was the closest, but he smoked himself out of his potential collegiate greatness.

Folks are picturing St. Johns as some wild run-n-gun offensive team. That may well be. But if you look at the kids that have truly been targeted and landed, the Lavin Gameplan is pretty obvious. I haven't read a single article this year where the subject is brought up that Obekpa isn't considered at WORST the 3rd best defensive center in high school this year. Rivals branded Jamal Branch as the BEST defensive player in all of high school just a year ago. In a listing of the top 10 defensive players in the entire 2011 high school class, Branch was joined by BOTH Amir Garret and Sir Dom.

Obekpa is very likely the missing peice between "good" and "very good" for the coming year - and maybe even a cornerstone for "great" in year or two years or 3 years after that. Obekpa can be that piece that Norvell Pelle (6'10 defensive stalwart and shotblocking savant) MIGHT have been had he qualified.

Excuse the over exuberance. But after 16 years as a lone voice in the night (a UCLA Lavin fan!), every single bit of ammo that can be loaded into the "I told you so" arsenal MUST be savored!

Congratuations to Chris on making a delayed but CORRECT decision. And to the staff for keeping the "eye on the prize" throughout.
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Wonderful post. As Nate Blue said today. Kids playing for Lavin because he has more recruits in the NBA than anybody except Calipari, and Lavin has been in the Booth for 7 of the last 9 years. Lavs is a demon of a recruiter. I think all SJU fans are justifiably thrilled at our prospects for the future.
 
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