‘22 TN PF/C Felix Okpara

#1
cncchris33

cncchris33

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#1
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#5
#5
cncchris33 said:
That film is also from Okpara’s sophomore year, I believe.
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Posted in April of last year so yup that makes sense. Looks like he could be a great defensive anchor. Needs to quit jumping at people though or he's going to foul out every game
 
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#7
#7
Hey, I'll take him in a heartbeat. A consensus Top 50 big man with size and athleticism and a decent jump shot? Sign. Me. Up. We definitely need that.
 
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#9
#9
Tennessee could use this guy and I think he could be a red shirt so the staff could put some weight on him.
 
#10
#10
Vol49er said:
I'm still watching the video but I like this dude a lot. Him, sophomore Tamba, fourth year ON, and fourth year at UT Uros wouldn't be a bad big man group imo
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IMO seems like a lot of scholarships tied up with three of them being true 5's. Against Alabama we played JJJ at the 5 and lots of teams are going the route Bama is with smaller quicker 5's. If it was up to me I would pass on Tamba but Okpara looks good to me.
 
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#11
#11
LeannaVol said:
IMO seems like a lot of scholarships tied up with three of them being true 5's. Against Alabama we played JJJ at the 5 and lots of teams are going the route Bama is with smaller quicker 5's. If it was up to me I would pass on Tamba but Okpara looks good to me.
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Tamba appears ready to make a decision while Okpara is a ways out from one. Not sure you pass on Tamba in hopes you could land Okpara later and possibly find yourself in a lurch with only Plavsic.
 
#12
#12
cncchris33 said:
Tamba appears ready to make a decision while Okpara is a ways out from one. Not sure you pass on Tamba in hopes you could land Okpara later and possibly find yourself in a lurch with only Plavsic.
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Tamba, at least to me, would be an iffy take with all the misses we’ve experienced the last few years. However, the staff knows way more and I have to trust their decisions.
 
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#13
#13
LeannaVol said:
IMO seems like a lot of scholarships tied up with three of them being true 5's. Against Alabama we played JJJ at the 5 and lots of teams are going the route Bama is with smaller quicker 5's. If it was up to me I would pass on Tamba but Okpara looks good to me.
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cncchris33 said:
Tamba appears ready to make a decision while Okpara is a ways out from one. Not sure you pass on Tamba in hopes you could land Okpara later and possibly find yourself in a lurch with only Plavsic.
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I sort of agree with passing on Tamba (at this point probably too late but before), but that has as much to do with positional congestion as it does I just don’t think Tamba is going to be a great player. Even if Okpara doesn’t work out, I think there are kids like Tamba we could get every cycle. But I don’t follow recruiting as much as many of you do, and I don’t watch high school film, so mine is an uninformed decision really
 
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#15
#15
We need to actually get someone from Hamilton heights. We've missed on quite a few in a row from there.
 
#18
#18
VolGee4 said:
I’m not sure how many we’ve really wanted. I don’t think we really pushed for Ado, Jitoboh, or Ruhzentsev.
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Well Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander both went there, I don't remember us recruiting them super hard, but I have to question why. Either way you already mentioned 3 players in the last 3-4 years. That's a considerable amount from a singular school. Uros also went there, and we obviously didn't initially land him.

I guess the more overarching theme is, how many schools put 6 plus players in Power 5 in the last 4 years? Not that many. It would be nice to have a good relationship with the coaches for a relative talent factory just an hour or so south of us.
 
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#20
#20
swchandler1988 said:
Technically? Uros. Which honestly given how hype he is for the school and teammates should be a pretty big recruiting benefit
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While he did play there, we didn't recruit him out of HH, though, at least no that I'm aware of.

I guess my point is that it isn't really fair to hold Tennessee to a higher standard with regard to HH any more than we hold WVU to a higher standard with Huntington Prep, UVA with Oak Hill Academy, or Florida with Montverde Academy and IMG. Being "instate" doesn't always equal a recruiting foothold with those basketball factories. An extremely high percentage of the kids at those schools worth recruiting are from other parts of the country, or even world. They have no built-in loyalty to the state school.
 
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#21
#21
rdk4121 said:
We need to actually get someone from Hamilton heights. We've missed on quite a few in a row from there.
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The Coach there is a 30 year old that played at Chattanooga Christian and has coached multiple AAU teams. He is a very good guy and would be for whatever is best for his players. I don't think he is as big of a UT fan as we are, but he is not anti-UT.
 
#23
#23
rdk4121 said:
Well Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander both went there, I don't remember us recruiting them super hard, but I have to question why. Either way you already mentioned 3 players in the last 3-4 years. That's a considerable amount from a singular school. Uros also went there, and we obviously didn't initially land him.

I guess the more overarching theme is, how many schools put 6 plus players in Power 5 in the last 4 years? Not that many. It would be nice to have a good relationship with the coaches for a relative talent factory just an hour or so south of us.
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We have a great relationship with the coaches and staff there, Chris Walker who was on staff there is employed by the basketball team as team chaplain...we didn’t really pursue any of those guys mentioned for various reasons.
 
#25
#25
rdk4121 said:
Well Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander both went there, I don't remember us recruiting them super hard, but I have to question why. Either way you already mentioned 3 players in the last 3-4 years. That's a considerable amount from a singular school. Uros also went there, and we obviously didn't initially land him.

I guess the more overarching theme is, how many schools put 6 plus players in Power 5 in the last 4 years? Not that many. It would be nice to have a good relationship with the coaches for a relative talent factory just an hour or so south of us.
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Of the 3 I mentioned, Ado is the best so far. But it just depends on circumstances. They didn’t need Samson when you have a class of 2 five stars and a 4 star already. I don’t see Jitoboh contributing much at UF, and he was a reach.

I don’t believe we ever had a chance with Gilgeous-Alexander.
 
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