HS thread:
Not in the Portal Thread because he’s a high-school kid.
The HS thread Haney linked above has a little chatter, along with the Off Season thread. A lot more chatter in the VIP thread too
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I can’t find any scouting reports by the usual suspects: Bossi, Finkelstein. Anyone seen one?
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Not sure, but here’s a Jacquie article with some quotes:
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I picked up:
- cited Onyenso
- Came to US from Nigeria 2 years ago
- Recruited by Theus
Still no indication of why he jumped to top 100
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he didn’t jump to top 100. ON3/Rivals just has him higher than the other sites.
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His IG post announcing his commitment + a lot of pics from his visit shoot + a bonus young Favour in Nigeria in the last pic
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I’m still a bit confused what the knock on him is that he isn’t rated higher. He’s been 7 foot since at least his junior season so it isn’t a late growth spurt. He was at elite camps/showcases like the NBPA and Pangos AA, so it isn’t like visibility was a concern. His highlights show him occasionally hitting 3s and putting the ball on the deck, so it’s not like he’s a pure paint-bound lumbering big.
So… Why was he just a low-tier 4 star? Is he just still raw and developing? Is it cause to be a little more reserved about expectations for him in Year 1?
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I’ll see your confusion and raise my confusion, which is that when I had some free time yesterday afternoon I went and sought out info and asked others here what they knew, it turns out that there’s not much info and nobody knew much of anything.
Which makes me wonder why folks are so excited. I mean, he’s a top 100 (maybe) 7+ footer who’s got a few decent highlights. But there’s no scouting report, nothing I’ve been able to find from AAU.
There’s a bunch of full games out there if anyone has the time to watch them.
I’m excited we got a HS guy. I was worried we hadn’t prioritized that. So that’s good! For more than that, I’m gonna wait until someone watches him play a bit. He doesn’t even have a Hudl profile.
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Various hypotheses
- Arrived late / lack of exposure
- Recruiting services have stopped investing as much in following HS recruiting, just not paying attention until the end.
- In his highlights the ball looks very hot potato-y in his hands. Like he never has a good grip until the dunk is complete.
- No defensive highlights and yet he is 7’1 in high school. Is he just not a good defender?
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Just chatting here.
But contra assertion 1:
He played at a HS that regularly hosts HM coaches looking for talent.
He got that Pangos invite
He rebounded like a young Sir Charles at Zion
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Yeah, he’s been playing in places where he’s had eyeballs, and has good offers, so that’s something.
Where are you getting the HS stats? I couldn’t find quickly / easily.
Write up after Pangos. Not noted in the top 25 showings or the next 25 of note.
Stats from Pangos. He had 1 block and 1 steal in 4 games at 20mpg. Not great. Shot well though - 7.5 ppg and almost 4 boards.
https://basketball.exposureevents.com/246252/event/documents/playerstatistics
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Averaged 14 and 7 in 12 games of something called the Elite Prep League (Hargrave, Highland, and some others involved)
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It is referenced here in the STL write-up. Taking at face value that this is not a daisy chain of Miss Info.
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Lang is more viable for 2026-27 if that’s the info you’re asking for…
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Not sure about that but getting 10-12 mins from Ibe may be a stretch.
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While I don’t know much about him, it’s kind of hard to ignore his offer list. In this portal era, I feel like you approach HS recruiting from one of two angles…play them right away, or with the understanding they’re a project and won’t see the floor in game action for a couple of years. Anything in between is a recipe for transferring out after a year. If Ibe can contribute, play him behind Grünloh, and he’s that much more ready in 2027-28.
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You can’t teach a 7’7” wingspan. Ibe should be good to spell Grünloh for 10 mins at least, but we will want Grünloh on the floor a lot. He should be one who takes a step up this season.
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Not to be overly skeptical or negative, but I don’t think offer lists are a good measure anymore in the NIL era. Yes a committable offer represents a roster spot so it’s not nothing, but what’s the financial commitment? It could be P5s rounding out the bottom of their roster on the cheap, or the offer could be a substantial one for a key contributor. It’s just hard to know for sure.
All that said, I really like this pickup. You can’t teach 7 feet with a 7’7 wingspan. Given the market for bigs, even a developmental guy is good to get into your program and Odom has proven in a small sample size the ability to retain key guys. Get him in, get him lifting, and see what he can give you in spot duty early in the season.
Edit: lol @Hoos5004 , great minds.
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