All eyes have been on college basketball’s freshmen standouts: AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, Darius Acuff Jr., Caleb Wilson, Kingston Flemings and many others.
Then, there’s Ebuka Okorie.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Stanford Cardinal freshman point guard wasn’t highly recruited out of Nashua, New Hampshire, but he’s worked hard on his game. He’s rarely discussed, but will be a lot more if he keeps up what he’s been doing.
In his first year, he averaged 22.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, which earned him All-ACC Rookie and First Team honors. This season, he’s been the seventh-best scorer in college basketball, and second among freshmen behind Dybantsa.
“It’s pretty cool,” Okorie told USA TODAY Sports. “It just goes to show that my hard work is paying off with the recognition that I’m getting … and just like the way that I’m able to contribute to the team’s success.”
He added: “I like to measure my success on how the team is doing, really. You can have players scoring, putting up really crazy numbers and you check the box scores and their team is losing a lot. One of the main things I’m focused on is really just overall team success and winning as many games as possible.”
Ebuka Okorie proves he is one of the top freshmen
Consider this: the last ACC freshmen guards to average at least 20 points per game were Georgia Tech’s Mark Price (1982-83) and Kenny Anderson (1989-90).
Okorie scored 30 points or more in seven games, which tied with Marvin Bagley III for the most by any freshman in ACC history. He dropped 36 points against North Carolina on Jan. 14 and 40 points against Georgia Tech on Feb. 7.
Other ACC freshmen to drop 40 include Cooper Flagg, Tyler Hansbrough, Harrison Barnes, Olivier Hanlan and current Louisville freshman Mikel Brown Jr.
“I don’t like to talk about ceilings with our team and players, but I mean … (he’s) one of the best players I’ve coached already, and not just freshmen. So, I don’t know, I’ve coached some NBA guys,” Stanford head coach Kyle Smith told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t want to put that much heat on him, but he’s pretty talented.”
Okorie doesn’t place his focus on individual accolades, though. He keeps his head down, remains humble, stays grounded and continues to do what’s got him this far. Okorie would rather do what it takes to help lead his team to the most victories.
His style of play, he said, is to read the defense and make the right play.
“The main thing is just trying to make the right play each and every possession, whether it’s like getting downhill scoring or creating a scoring opportunity for my teammates,” Okorie said.
When Stanford needed a bucket facing a two-point deficit with under a minute left against Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, Okorie delivered.
He made a play, driving to the basket, evading two defenders and scoring through contact. And one. He sank the free throw to give the Cardinal a one-point lead with 26 seconds left.
Pitt would ultimately advance, winning 64-63 after connecting on a third attempt, a putback tip-in with 0.4 seconds left in the game.
“Really proud of Ebuka,” Smith told reporters after that game. “(We) challenged him to play the right way and he did. As a point guard, (he) really got us back in there, made a big shot, made his free throw. We needed one stop. We just couldn’t come up with it.”
Eight teams from the ACC seem primed to be selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament. One of Stanford’s goals was to make it to the big dance, but it didn’t help its chances with the loss against Pitt. The Cardinal do have some big wins throughout the season that could help their case.
Stanford basketball alum and Sacramento Kings rookie center Maxime Raynaud had words of encouragement for his alma mater, hoping it can somehow earn a trip to the tournament. The Cardinal’s fate will be ultimately decided Sunday.
“I hope so, but I’m really proud of what they are accomplishing by being student-athletes there. It is one of the best, actually, it is the best university in the world, and being able to do both is really hard so I really respect that. At the same time I know they all came a long way,” Raynaud told USA TODAY Sports. “Seeing the work that Coach Smith and the coaching staff has been doing with them is tremendous, turning them into men and better basketball players. I’m always rooting for them. It just sucks, I wish they won that one.”
A student of the game, shaped by upbringing
Okorie was born and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, to Nigerian parents, Charles and Ljeoma. Growing up, he watched his parents and family pour into him and his basketball aspirations.
Being raised under their household taught Okorie valuable lessons about discipline, preparation and sacrifice. Whether on or off the court, Okorie takes pride in representing his family’s name and heritage.
“It means a lot, just being able to represent my family, even just like Nigeria in general,” Okorie said. “My parents have sacrificed a lot for me to get to this position. My family in general, even my siblings growing up like, they would always help me with my basketball, whether it’s passing to me, driving me to different basketball events.”
He added: “Just seeing how hard my parents would work, each and every day, waking up early to drive me to school, or to drive to work, whatever it was. I feel like their hard work has sort of been instilled in me and I’ve just been trying to carry it on.”
He’s cultivated personality traits that translate directly back to the court.
“If you study for a test, and you’re confident and you’re not nervous at all, you’ll do well,” Okorie said of his parents’ teachings. “They’ve told me to just apply that to life in general. For example, in basketball, if you prepare, if you get shots up beforehand, then in the game you shouldn’t be nervous to take an open shot. Simple things like that, just to be prepared, have the discipline to work hard each and every day. It’s just been like some of the main stuff that they’ve instilled in me from early age.”
His parents continue their unwavering support for their son. Coming from New Hampshire, Okorie said they would travel to as many as games as possible, both in California and on the East Coast, sometimes flying 5-6 hours to and from games.
“It gets to a point I feel like they sort of, like, travel too much for my game. Like, I’ll tell them to, like, relax,” Okorie joked. “Whether they show up or not, I know they’re going to be supporting wherever they are but the fact that they’re even willing to come support me and fly across the country, it just gives me a little bit more motivation to go hard and play as hard as I can each and every game.”
Although he grew up playing basketball in Nashua, Okorie traveled nearly 50 miles to Massachusetts for travel ball and AAU.
A student of the game, he’s patterned his game after some of the top NBA players and scorers, including guys like Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, James Harden and Isaiah Thomas.
At his 6-foot-1 stature, Okorie has learned to get his shot off over taller defenders.
“I’d say it comes with watching film and just overall experience, reading the defense and picking up on tendencies, like how the defense is guarding me and trying to figure out different ways that I can just navigate and get to the hoop and score,” Okorie said.
However, one of the areas he knows needs improvement is his strength and conditioning.
“I feel like as I continue to put on more muscle, I feel like it would just open up all parts of my game,” Okorie said. “Offensively and defensively, just like my movement on the court. That has to do with every single part of the game.”
As he continues to grow as a ballplayer and individual, Okorie is discovering himself in sunny California. He’s a big tennis fan, citing Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz as his favorites.
As his stock continues to rise and he garners more attention for his basketball abilities, Okorie plans to keep his head down and keep feeding into his craft.
“Staying close and communicating with my family, my close friends, just continuing to remain humble, stay grounded,” Okorie said. “Just trust my work, continue to work hard and continue to do what I’ve done that has got me this far.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ebuka Okorie is best college basketball freshman no one talks about
