The summer is filled with recruiting buzz, and Syracuse hoops fans may want to keep tabs on Class of ’14 big man Goodluck Okonoboh. He’s another Boston-area product like Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel that the Orange is pursuing hard. The Orange landed MCW, and were finalists for N2, so there’s some recent success up there.¬†Okonoboh made a visit to the Dome with Noel during a game against UConn in ’12. DaJuan Coleman and SU commit Tyler Ennis were also in attendance at that game.
Okonoboh will have plenty of options. Cincinnati, UConn, Gonzaga, Indiana, Marquette, Minnesota, Missouri, N.C. State, Pitt, Providence, Seton Hall and Syracuse have all made offers to the 6’9” center from Wilbraham & Monson Academy. SU and Indiana are widely perceived to be two of the favorites, although he recently picked up an offer from Duke.
He has the potential to help Syracuse in the paint in a big way. Last season SU lacked a reliable man down low. Rakeem Christmas, Coleman, and Baye Keita all contributed, but there was no go-to guy like Arinze Onuaku or Fab Melo.
Okonoboh can do what a big man is supposed to do on defense: block. In a game against Putnam Science (Conn.), Okonoboh had 10 blocks in the first half. He can also grab rebounds. On offense, he has the size, strength and physical toughness to get the ball to him down low.
Okonoboh is a five-star recruit, according to ESPN. He is listed No. 20 on the ESPN 60 list for the Class of ’14 and #4 for his position. In an interview with Five Star Basketball, Okonoboh gave props to Jim Boeheim, saying he‚Äôs a great coach and a Hall of Famer.
Okonoboh’s future would be bright at SU. By the time he would be on the HIll, Coleman will already be a junior, while Christmas will be a senior. There’s a flood of young stars coming up over the next two years and Okonoboh could be part of the fresh new face of the Orange.
He’ll play in the Amare Stoudemire and LeBron James basketball camps over the next few months. SU fans have plenty to keep an eye on this summer. It would be nice if “Goodluck to the Orange” meant the big man chose SU.
Posted: Austin Pollack
9 responses to “Wishing Goodluck to Syracuse: Orange Will Need It to Land Big Man Okonoboh”
I agree that it would be nice to land Goodluck, but it is far from a necessity. Paschal Chukwu is still a legitimate option in 2014, with most likely one of Coleman and Christmas still around, along with Chin Obokoh. The future is bright for the Orange.
Syracuse always seems to lack the final piece of the championship puzzle going into March. Last year it was the low post presence for scoring and crucial reboundsWhen there was viable candidate he was either hurt
ONuaku or ineligible due to academics as in “Not so Fab Melo”
Another shot blocking big man would be a big boost. Look at the second and last year with Fab. Having the big shot blocker in the center of the zone allowed the guards to be more aggressive going for steals knowing they had backup waiting in the paint and it allowed them to cheat off rebounds when the shot went up, taking off down court for easy transition buckets. That’s why I was so surprised when they made the final four last year playing center by committee. The year before with a big shot blocking center they were more dominant, losing only 3 games the entire season.
Arinze Anuaku goes down with a physical injury and SU falls short. Fab Melo takes the CUSE all the way. No BIG BIG man in the center and SU fades. So it has been, so it shall be in the future.
Don’t believe in curses..can only be one champ each year. In that respect no team is perfect, except the champ,who usually has some holes lmbo!
GO is a good post, in the mold of Noah Vonleh, who he obviously wants to team with in ’14-’15 @IU…. I have concerns with our bigs, but they all have pros and cons, and Chris McCollough will be coming as well… 6’10 220 lbs. Scoring/rebounding wing…. STUD!
* I can make a case for Kaleb Joseph being far more an important recruit than GO, SU has been Guard defiant for acouple seasons
Potential lineup ’14-’15:
C- Coleman
Pf- Christmas/McCollough
SF- Grant
SG- Roberson/ Patterson
Pg- Ennis
** McCollough could take a spot from either former McDAAs Christmas or Coleman? He’s that talented. While Patterson could be a defensive stopper on the perimeter, Tyler Roberson flashed some elite prospect bball in the post season tourney & allstar games, that would make him a huge guard (6’8″) in the zone. Any combo of the three could be the sixth & seventh man as well…Su will be that versatile! But Joseph is a better fit, probably more than any big, not in the ’14 top10.
Whats next Dip?The BigDipTrips lol!!Love ya neff!
“Thou surely jest…after taking the Iron throne, my uncle is now my cousin in law, brother, and Warden of the East..!” 🙂
McCollough will be a one an done player. He is probably the best prospect that SU has signed since Carmelo. My question is how many scholarships does SU have to give out? Fair and Baye will be gone b/c they are Sr’s. I really think Grant will be also leaving following this upcoming yr as well. So that’s 3? Is that all they would have? SU in my mind has 3 big targets: Whitehead, Joseph an Okonoboh. Could SU sign all these guys or are they limited to 1 or 2 more?
After I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify
me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same comment.
Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that service?
Many thanks!