Any news on Orukpe?

[Shox21]

Orukpe "extremely coachable"

At least that's what I thought I heard Bruce Haertl say on his report tonight.

In the interview portion of the report Orukpe absolutely admitted he has a lot to learn.

If the coaching staff is calling him "extremely coachable", then I'm pretty confident he will be a force next year.

A player who admits he has something to learn, who the coaching staff refers to as coachable is a great combination. Orukpe is intelligent, so the ability to learn is there. I think this is going to work out great.

I was MORE than impressed with this young man's apparent intelligence. I understand he is an outstanding student. He is extremely well-spoken (which was a surprise) with no trace of an accent. I think the majority of people would think there would be a "South African" type accent, but I found no trace whatsoever. I have high hopes for him (maybe not so much this year but definitely next).

[Aargh]

I think his head is going to be screwed on a lot straighter than if he had been raised in the USA. Imagine the pressures, accolades, and kissing of backsides an athletic 7' guy coming through the US school and AAU systems would have.

Instead of having an unending line of people fawning over him, Orukpe had an entire government apparently doing anything possible to prevent him from leaving the country and a years-long battle to be allowed to do what he wanted to do.

No matter what becomes of Orukpe after he graduates, I am certain we will be proud to claim him as a WSU alumni. I'm also confident he will graduate. He probably has some different priorities than if he had lived his whole life here.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I seem to recal that EO's father is an engineer and his mom is a school teacher.

[Prince McShockins]

I'm not suprised a person from Africa is well spoken. Nigeria isn't in southern Africa BTW.

[WstateU]

I was ‘shocked’ to see how well he handled his first interview with ‘The Bruce’. If his ability on the floor ever matches his intellect, we’re all in for a big treat. The skies the limit for EO and he could go down as one of the all-time fan favorites. The coaching staff and university (especially Eric Sexton) moved mountains to get him here and I’m as excited as a kid in a candy store.

:good: :good:

[MadaboutWu]

And the 3-year odyssey has come to an end!!

Welcome EO!!

:poster_eo: :drum: :thewave: :wsu_posters:

[pinstripers]

O.....................M.........................G

[Aargh]

I think his improvement is going faster than any reasonable fan would have expected. Granted, the opponent was a D2 team, but Orukpe looked like he might be able to contribute some meaningful minutes even on a team with a stacked front court.

Marshall said in the postgame radio show that before tonight he would have been happy with what he saw tonight for the first half of the season. The implication was that right now Orukpe is playing as well as Marshall thought he would be playing by mid-season.

Marshall mentioned Stutz, Kyles, and Orukpe as the only players who had better games than he would have expected from them.

Orukpe had 11 boards in 16 minutes.

Newman took the ball straight at him over and over. That worked once. Overall, it left Newman at about 1/6 from the field from 5' or less when going at Orukpe. He did have 3 fouls in 16 minutes, but most of those were not on drives to the basket.

On a steal, Durley ended up dribbling down the court. A smaller, quicker player from Newman stripped him from behind and kept on going at about a 45 degree angle toward the sideline in the direction the play was moving. Orukpe was ggoing down court for the transition play. He caught up to the little guy and stripped him. OK, it kind of helped that the guy with the ball was still trying to gain solid control, but Orukpe has some foot speed.

[shockerfan]

I think his improvement is going faster than any reasonable fan would have expected. Granted, the opponent was a D2 team, but Orukpe looked like he might be able to contribute some meaningful minutes even on a team with a stacked front court.

Marshall said in the postgame radio show that before tonight he would have been happy with what he saw tonight for the first half of the season. The implication was that right now Orukpe is playing as well as Marshall thought he would be playing by mid-season.

Marshall mentioned Stutz, Kyles, and Orukpe as the only players who had better games than he would have expected from them.

Orukpe had 11 boards in 16 minutes.

Newman took the ball straight at him over and over. That worked once. Overall, it left Newman at about 1/6 from the field from 5' or less when going at Orukpe. He did have 3 fouls in 16 minutes, but most of those were not on drives to the basket.

On a steal, Durley ended up dribbling down the court. A smaller, quicker player from Newman stripped him from behind and kept on going at about a 45 degree angle toward the sideline in the direction the play was moving. Orukpe was ggoing down court for the transition play. He caught up to the little guy and stripped him. OK, it kind of helped that the guy with the ball was still trying to gain solid control, but Orukpe has some foot speed.

Marshall also said he felt Orukpe played the best out of all the newcomers compared to what they have been bringing in practice.

I would be elated if Orukpe could do what he did tonight every game. My head tells me it won't be THAT consistent. But who in the world DOESN'T love seeing him on the court? He's fun to watch. He didn't have any blocks that I can remember, but it was hilarious watching people try and shoot over him. That 3 pointer that Wesley took and airballed....it was like Wesley said "Oh crap!!!!" and then put about a 30 ft arch (ok that is an exaggeration) just so he could get it over Orukpe.

[Rosewood]

I found it highly entertaining to watch the crowd react to everything EO did.

[WuDrWu]

O.....................M.........................G

Care to elaborate 'pin?

[pinstripers]

A freak. An absolute freak. Barring injuries, this kid will play in the NBA.

[WuDrWu]

Lol. Kid has some upside doesn't he?


The hype is over. There is NOBODY in this league that wants to see EO next year. This year he's going to be enough of a handful, in spots. Give him a year and it's going to be lights out.

Everyone better hope he never learns to shoot. If he does, the league is done for the next 3 years.

That's 11 boards fellas. Most he grabbed at chest level, which also happened to be about rim level. I counted another 4 that he just couldn't grab.

You'd have a tough time counting the number of shots altered and boards he creates for others by keeping the ball alive.


Oh, how about the bounce pass back door to Ben Smith? Was that any good?

[shockerfan]

Lol. Kid has some upside doesn't he?


The hype is over. There is NOBODY in this league that wants to see EO next year. This year he's going to be enough of a handful, in spots. Give him a year and it's going to be lights out.

Everyone better hope he never learns to shoot. If he does, the league is done for the next 3 years.

That's 11 boards fellas. Most he grabbed at chest level, which also happened to be about rim level. I counted another 4 that he just couldn't grab.

You'd have a tough time counting the number of shots altered and boards he creates for others by keeping the ball alive.


Oh, how about the bounce pass back door to Ben Smith? Was that any good?

I will say that he seems to have really progressed from what I saw last year in JUCO. He looks more comfortable than he did then. If he continues to improve at a good rate....LOOK OUT! He still had plenty of moments that make you cringe...but that is to be expected at this point. He really got even more active after that monster jam also. It was alot of fun seeing him out there.

I'm with ya...next year MVC beware!!! The MVC will get more of Orukpe than they want this year alone. Even if it's only for 10 mins.

[GarH]

Remember the coach says he is very coach-able. A very scary thought for the rest of the MVC.