2021 C David Okwera

[Navin R. Johnson]

6' 11" big from Australia. Has offers from Arkansas, Miss St, Wake Forest.

 

 

[hhcmatt]

Uh...this guy looks amazing. Australian Dalano Banton but he might be 6'11". Plays like a guard. Is bringing the ball up the court for the national team.

 

 

If this guy ends up at Arkansas it's because they hired David Patrick as their Associate HC

[busticket]

Wow.  Not what I was expecting to see.  I saw Australian and thought Alex Maric.  He is definitely a Delano type player....point center.  He has amazing handles and passing ability for his height.  Can we hire David Patrick?

[Huskerpapa]

Hmmm.  I guess I don't have a superior eye for talent.  The players he is competing against were sort of average and his overall talent was not significantly higher.  He is tall, but lacks strength and he didn't seem to have big ups.  Our coaches wouldn't have made an offer though, if they didn't see something magical.   Correct?

[Norm Peterson]

23 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

Hmmm.  I guess I don't have a superior eye for talent.  The players he is competing against were sort of average and his overall talent was not significantly higher.  He is tall, but lacks strength and he didn't seem to have big ups.  Our coaches wouldn't have made an offer though, if they didn't see something magical.   Correct?

 

He's really long and mobile and has his head in the game. He skies for rebounds on the defensive end and gets the ball down the floor very quickly. Superb handles for a 6'11" foreign kid. And he seems to have range out to the 3-point line. Compare him to that one-time Aussie commit we had under Miles from Sunrise Christian (maybe?) who ended up at Arizona after a stint in juco ball. Can't recall the name, but I remember being very UN-impressed with that kid.  This kid has some tools we could use. I like him.

[busticket]

For a local comparison, I see a lot of Justin Patton in his game.  Long, mobile, good handles, high basketball IQ, range to 3.  Patton had a quicker release on his three and was a couple inches taller but they are similar in playing style.  
 

I would enjoy having this kid at center.  I don’t know if we really need a traditional big with strong post moves in Fred’s system.  Spacing, ball movement and perimeter shooting appear to be higher priority in our system.

[hhcmatt]

5 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

He's really long and mobile and has his head in the game. He skies for rebounds on the defensive end and gets the ball down the floor very quickly. Superb handles for a 6'11" foreign kid. And he seems to have range out to the 3-point line. Compare him to that one-time Aussie commit we had under Miles from Sunrise Christian (maybe?) who ended up at Arizona after a stint in juco ball. Can't recall the name, but I remember being very UN-impressed with that kid.  This kid has some tools we could use. I like him.

 

Keanu Pinder

[Norm Peterson]

2 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Keanu Pinder

 

That's the one. I could try to find highlight vid on him if it's still out there so people could maybe compare apples to apples.

[hhcmatt]

16 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

That's the one. I could try to find highlight vid on him if it's still out there so people could maybe compare apples to apples.

 

Haha I have that name burned into my head as Chris Harriman was bringing him here for what seemed to be 10 years.

 

[Fullbacksympathy]

He’s a lot like Lat actually.  A little more of a guard but if you watch Lat’s high school film in Australia it’s a pretty similar skill set.