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7-footer Wichita State recruit gets visa to attend school at WSU

The scouting report on Orukpe is that he runs and jumps very well for his size. Good shot blocker, decent rebounder, but needs a lot of work on his offensive game. He averaged 12 pts, 9 boards for the Ebun Comet club team last year in Nigeria. So basically, we have no idea how he'll fare in the MVC.

We'll have two 7-foot freshman, the other being Garrett Stutz, who is opposite of Orukpe. Stutz is highly skilled (equally effective shooting with both hands around the basket), but isn't very mobile.

So next season will be interesting. If one or both of them can develop into a POB-caliber player, Shocker fans should be pleased.
 
RoyalShock said:
The scouting report on Orukpe is that he runs and jumps very well for his size. Good shot blocker, decent rebounder, but needs a lot of work on his offensive game. He averaged 12 pts, 9 boards for the Ebun Comet club team last year in Nigeria. So basically, we have no idea how he'll fare in the MVC.

We'll have two 7-foot freshman, the other being Garrett Stutz, who is opposite of Orukpe. Stutz is highly skilled (equally effective shooting with both hands around the basket), but isn't very mobile.

So next season will be interesting. If one or both of them can develop into a POB-caliber player, Shocker fans should be pleased.
Click to expand...

If Stutz is not mobile, he will never be a POB-caliber player. That does not mean he can't be better, just not similar. To be a POB-type the player needs to have GREAT hands, be mobile and a defensive stopper. POB never really had real good offensive skills (other than the dunk), but he had great hands and understood position (especially defensively) and had 2 great games in the NCAA that propelled him much further than it should have. Also, in order to be a POB-caliber player, the guys need to have a wingspan the length of a house. Finally, he has to disappear for long stretches in games, and be severely overrated for the next level and become very well-paid for one week of national hype.
 
Looks like Wichita State's Nigerian recruit still has high school work to complete before they can even submit his file to the NCA clearinghouse. That makes it a little unlikely he will be eligible this fall. But strangely, he is already listed on the Wichita State official roster page and has high bio posted as if he was already part of the team.
He was originally a 2007 recruit when he signed with Wichita, and took an extra year to obtain a Visa to come to the US. So what has he been doing the past year, and why couldn't he have gotten his high school equivalent by now?---
http://www.kansas.com/250/story/413829.html

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArtic...1&DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=1285447&Q_SEASON=2007

http://www.goshockers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&KEY=&SPID=2851&SPSID=61183

Wichita also lost another one of their returning players as PG Wendel Preadom, who would have been a senior, will not be returning. It sounds like coach Gregg Marshall wanted his scholarship and sent him packing. Their other point guard, Gal Mekel, already left school to return to Europe to play for a pro team, so they will have virtually no guards returning with experience next year.
 
Da Coach said:
Looks like Wichita State's Nigerian recruit still has high school work to complete before they can even submit his file to the NCA clearinghouse. That makes it a little unlikely he will be eligible this fall. But strangely, he is already listed on the Wichita State official roster page and has high bio posted as if he was already part of the team.
He was originally a 2007 recruit when he signed with Wichita, and took an extra year to obtain a Visa to come to the US. So what has he been doing the past year, and why couldn't he have gotten his high school equivalent by now?---
Click to expand...

I predict he will go the route of DeArron Williams and never end up at WSU.
 
Great post GDog. IMO, if it wasn't for the game against Pitt POB would have played 2 more seasons for BU.
 
Da Coach said:
...they will have virtually no guards returning with experience next year.
Click to expand...

That is true, and in a guard oriented league, they will struggle with lack of experience.
They have a few guards but hereare what they'll have on the roster next season:

Lance Harris - played 12 minutes per game last year, avg 2 ppg
Graham Hatch - played even less, avg. 2 ppg
Bret Michael - only played 6 minutes all year
AJ Hawkins - redshirted, but not really a guard...plays SF
Reggie Chamberlain - an incoming juco point guard, 6-0 and a very slender 160 lbs, averageds 4.6 assists per game in juco.
Clevin Hannah - 5-11 PG from Chipola
David Kyles - 6-3 SG will be freshman
Toure Murray - actually isn't really a guard, but is listed as a 6-3 forward.

So their total returning experience at the guard position amounts to about 4 ppg.
 
Orukpe is expected to complete whatever requirements are remaining and be eligible this fall. Of course, we won't know for sure until it happens. So there is always a chance there will be delays. Orukpe showed great loyalty over the past year, spurning other programs who were telling him they could get him to the states quicker and easier. Now that he is in Wichita I would expect that loyalty to remain. He'll be able to play pick-up games at Koch Arena this summer. He was added to our roster page last year since he was technically a part of that recruiting class.

As for our guard situation, it is true that we will have very little experience returning. We'll rely heavily on our new juco guys (Chamberlain will only be a soph.). Both played well at the NJCAA tournament. Hopefully their adjustment period will be short.

To add to tornado's assesment of our guards:

Lance Harris - Was a senior last year and obviously won't be back.
Graham Hatch - Missed most of last year with an injury. Probably won't get many minutes as he's primarily just a shooter. Ball handling and defense is lacking.
Bret Michael - Walk-on who only got minutes last year because of lack of depth at PG. Also injured much of the season.
AJ Hawkins - SF who can slide over and play SG. He's very, very similar to PJ Couisnard. According to PJ, AJ will make us forget all about "Cooz". That remains to be seen, but after seeing a highlight reel from his days at St. Bonaventure, it's not a stretch.
David Kyles - Athletic and versatile. Can play all the guard positions, but not sure where his skill set will have him settle in.
Toure Murry - A SG that was listed as a SF probably because he was the tallest player on his HS team. But definitely a guard.

This will be one of those years where we should see some progess and get a glimpse of what our young talent will be capable of. We will need tremendous leadership from Clemente, Griskenas and Hawkins. If we can get better luck than last year (injuries and lots of close losses) I'm hoping for a middle-of-the-pack finish.

Also, the Wendell Preadom situation is unclear as to whether he was forced out or just saw the writing on the wall. He just couldn't put the ball in the hole during games and was prone to make key mistakes. He wasn't going to get anything but mop-up minutes next season. I'm hoping that is the case because I don't like the idea of forcing out a senior-to-be.
 
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