cole256 17,039 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hope he grows a couple more inches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 2 hours ago, cole256 said: Hope he grows a couple more inches I guess we could say that about every recruit in bball, but why do you say that now? It's not like Okoro is undersized, especially at the college level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustache eagle 2,388 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 2 hours ago, cole256 said: Hope he grows a couple more inches Do you say that because he is undersized at the position, would help him in a Bruce pearl scheme or because we might need him at the 4 ... or other? im not familiar with his game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 3 minutes ago, mustache eagle said: Do you say that because he is undersized at the position, would help him in a Bruce pearl scheme or because we might need him at the 4 ... or other? im not familiar with his game. He's undersized maybe relative to an NBA projection, but he's not undersized relative to what he'll be asked to do at AU. As of right now, Okoro is more known as an elite defender that can guard 1-4 well. He'll be playing the 3 at AU and he's exactly the same size, maybe even longer, than Heron. And even if he was asked to play some 4, then he's bigger than Desean Murray was last year. This 247 hoops analyst/nba scout whatever had him in his top 10 overall players for the class: The only drawbacks to his game right now are his offensive skills. He's got insane ability/explosion at finishing at the rim but his handle, ability to create his own shot, and his actual jumper will need some work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,039 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 3 hours ago, Gene Loblaw said: I guess we could say that about every recruit in bball, but why do you say that now? It's not like Okoro is undersized, especially at the college level. We could say that about every recruit, except the ones that we don't.....he is undersized to play a 3. And I say it because of the system an style Pearl likes to play. He would ABSOLUTELY get destroyed right now if he tried to play at the 4 spot. And I like for our players to eventually be pro players so future recruits will have a desire to play for Auburn. So I'd like for him to be an ideal size for that as well. I'm not really caught up in stars the way you seem to be. But hopefully he has an abnormal wing span or something like that, because Pearl really relies on his wings having a high skill set offensively to create mismatches all over the court. Especially his 3's if he has that type of player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,039 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 3 hours ago, mustache eagle said: Do you say that because he is undersized at the position, would help him in a Bruce pearl scheme or because we might need him at the 4 ... or other? im not familiar with his game. Right now he's really just out "athleteing" people mostly. That changes when you go to the next level unless you're a once in a generation type of athlete. Add a couple of inches on him he could be a defensive specialist though. Able to guard most positions. Something like chumma. Don't know if you remember but I was pretty adamant about us not playing him at the 3 when most on here was saying he'll be a power forward. No it's pretty much regarded he's a 3 on here after his success. But what he does for us is much more than his offensive numbers. He allows us to do so much defensively and helps mask Harper's size limitations. You have to remember that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 free article. Young man is all class and also trying to get his 5 star teammates to join him. Bruce is turning that AOT AAU/McEachern squad into an AU farm league program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird 60,368 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 9 hours ago, cole256 said: Hope he grows a couple more inches At ~18, I'd expect another 1 to 3 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,039 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 1 hour ago, bigbird said: At ~18, I'd expect another 1 to 3 inches. Yeah that's what I was thinking and hoping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared52 4,354 Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 On 10/18/2018 at 4:24 PM, bigbird said: At ~18, I'd expect another 1 to 3 inches. Wish that had been true for me. Hit 6’6” at 17 and didn’t grow anymore. At 12, doc said I was on track for 7’. “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 Interesting turn here. Anyways, I fully expect Okoro to start next season regardless of who comes back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALLINtheFamily 77 Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 8 hours ago, Gene Loblaw said: Interesting turn here. Anyways, I fully expect Okoro to start next season regardless of who comes back Inquiring minds want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellitor 33,062 Posted November 28, 2018 Author Share Posted November 28, 2018 24 minutes ago, ALLINtheFamily said: Inquiring minds want to know. Wasn't germaine to Okoro. About a page of stuff off topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALLINtheFamily 77 Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 35 minutes ago, ellitor said: Wasn't germaine to Okoro. About a page of stuff off topic. gracious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 got his fifth star back again in the final updates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerbrotha12 2,362 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 18 hours ago, Gene Loblaw said: got his fifth star back again in the final updates Five star babyyyyyyyyyyyy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravejd 3,267 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Bruce was complimentary of all our signees as you'd expect but i recall him having some particular high praise for Okoro. Bruce sees him on par with the top players coming out of HS this year. I can't remember the quote but he basically laughed at his current ranking and said it would be hard to find 10 better players in this class. So i'm very much looking forward to seeing what this kid can do next year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerbrotha12 2,362 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 4 minutes ago, gravejd said: Bruce was complimentary of all our signees as you'd expect but i recall him having some particular high praise for Okoro. Bruce sees him on par with the top players coming out of HS this year. I can't remember the quote but he basically laughed at his current ranking and said it would be hard to find 10 better players in this class. So i'm very much looking forward to seeing what this kid can do next year! He had similar comments about Jared Harper "being worth the price of admission," and that guy turned out to be pretty good at basketball... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I saw a handful of folks who had him as a top 10 prospect, it’d really help to have Chumer around to mold the guy, I figure they’ll end up playing similar roles sooner or later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 this expert thinks Isaac Okoro is a sure fire one and done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Another bball scouting writer who thinks Okoro could be a lottery pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Loblaw 636 Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 another nba writer that has Okoro as a potential lottery pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641 Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 I didn’t expect to have him long but I was hoping he’d bridge the gap w Sharife and potentially Boston wish him the best tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,695 Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Freshman Isaac Okoro might be Auburn’s best-kept secret, but not for long Updated Nov 05, 2019;Posted Nov 05, 2019 6-8 minutes Auburn Basketball Freshman Isaac Okoro throws down a dunk during the Tipoff at Toomer's dunk contest on Oct. 17 in downtown Auburn. Cat Wofford/Auburn Athletics Ask Auburn’s seniors which freshman is most likely to make an immediate impact this season, and the answer is unanimous: It’s Isaac Okoro. Ask them who the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder reminds them of, and there’s another consensus response: former five-star shooting guard Mustapha Heron. It’s a fair comparison, according to Bruce Pearl, except in one key area. Okoro, he believes, is the best defensive guard he has ever signed in his coaching career — and the four-star freshman will have an opportunity to prove that right away this season. “Mustapha was probably a better scorer,” Pearl said. “Isaac is a much better defender. They’re both good rebounders. I think it’s a fair comparison. But remember: Mustapha was a first-team All-Freshman as a freshman. And I agree with Danjel (Purifoy): Isaac will be that, as well.” Those are some lofty expectations foisted upon the top signee in the Tigers’ 2019 class, but the high praise from Pearl is something Okoro holds dear heading into his freshman season, which will tip off at tonight at 8 p.m. against Georgia Southern in Auburn Arena. Okoro was the lone freshman in an otherwise all-senior starting lineup for Auburn during its exhibition win against Eckerd College last Friday, and while he didn’t exactly stuff the box score in his 20 minutes of action, he showed flashes of that potential Pearl and other Auburn players have raved about all offseason. Okoro was just 1-of-6 from the field — with his one basket coming on a fastbreak dunk off a steal near midcourt — but he also pulled down four rebounds, dished out four assists and had a pair of blocks as Auburn held Eckerd to just 29 percent shooting for the game. “We’re going to be improved at that position,” Pearl said. “He will be an All-Freshman performer this year with a chance to be the Freshman of the Year. He is the best defensive guard that I’ve ever coached; he can guard one through five, and I’ve never had a player before who could do that. He’s big, strong and physical and quick and wants to defend, wants the opponent’s best player. Offensively, he’s just very productive. He’s unselfish and he will definitely fit into the mix right away and be one of our best players.” Although Okoro only finished with three points in the Tigers’ preseason exhibition, Pearl said there’s plenty more the team can do offensively through the talented freshman, who was also in a bit of foul trouble against Eckerd. Pearl anticipates Okoro’s offensive involvement to expand as the season progresses, while senior big man Anfernee McLemore is confident that Okoro will be one of the Tigers’ go-to players on that end of the court. There shouldn’t be any real rush for Okoro to emerge offensively, as Auburn will likely lean on the trio of J’Von McCormick, Samir Doughty and Danjel Purifoy to shoulder the scoring load early on in the season, while Pearl remains confident that center Austin Wiley will have a dominant season down low. Still, Okoro’s development and integration into the flow of the offense could be pivotal for Auburn’s long-term prospects this season. “He's definitely going to be able to be a problem in the SEC,” McLemore said. “You know, he can guard centers. He can guard point guards. And he's definitely, he's just an exceptional athlete. He's one of those guys that can really play basketball…. He's going to be a go-to guy. He's going to be a scorer. He's going to be a very impactful player on our team. He's just a good player.” Okoro flashed some of his ability and freakish athleticism during the team’s Tipoff at Toomer’s, when he won the dunk contest. That was only a glimpse of what he could do on that end, though. In high school at McEachern in Powder Springs, Ga. — where his jersey is already retired — Okoro took on that primary scoring role, averaging 19.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as a senior while guiding his team to a 32-0 record and state title, as well as a No. 1 national ranking by several outlets. Auburn believes that offensive skillset will carry over into this season, with McLemore noting that the freshman already has the mentality of a go-to option offensively, is “not backing down from any challenges” in practice and is “ready to go up against the top dogs in the SEC.” “Isaac is a physically dominating player,” Pearl said. “… He wants to be defined by his defense, his physicality, his rebounding. He's working really hard on his offense. Shooting hasn't been one area that people have said, 'Well can Isaac shoot the basketball?' He can. He met the hurdle of being able to be so dominant on balancing it in other ways, shape or form and a willingness to just let it go. And understand that he can shoot the basketball. “That's going to be a process for him. Extremely coachable, high basketball IQ, incredible motor, one of the best athletes I've seen.” Okoro’s defensive acumen should pay immediate dividends for Auburn, with Pearl believing the backcourt trio of the freshman and seniors McCormick and Doughty has the potential to be great on that end of the court. While Okoro has the versatility — and the strength, as many of his teammates are quick to make note of — to play other positions and guard one through five on the floor, Pearl has been rotating him exclusively in the backcourt during the preseason because he has proven to be Auburn’s best on-ball perimeter defender. Though Okoro didn’t receive any preseason All-SEC recognition like some of the other top freshmen in the league — like Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey and Georgia’s Anthony Edwards — Auburn feels like it’s only a matter of time before its best kept secret becomes a household name in the league. “He don’t look like a freshman on the floor,” Doughty said. “He’s talking like he’s been here. He’s working on his game; he’s one of our hardest workers. He’s shooting the ball a lot better than people would expect, more than I expected, but that comes from him working hard every day. He’s definitely a standout freshman, and this season when he be playing, I don’t think a lot of people will expect him to play the way he’s going to be playing.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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