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Class of '66 Old Fart

(2019) PF Francis Okoro to Oregon

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A forgotten man or so it seems but we did extend an offer last fall.  Although it doesn't look like we're doing any active recruiting here's a recap of his high school season.  Puts up very nice numbers.  Still touted as 6'9" in game summaries.

Normal West Wildcats HS

02.09.18 – Defeated Peoria Manual 61-49.   13 pts., 13 reb., 9 blks.

02.03.18 – Defeated O’Fallon 61-59.  24 pts., 12 reb.

02.02.18 – Defeated Glenwood 40-34.  8 pts., 13 reb.

01.26.18 – Defeated Normal Community 42-37.  19 pts., 18 reb. 8 blks.

01.20.18 – Defeated Rock Island 42-28.   9 pts., 13 reb. nursing an injured ankle.

01.19.18 – Defeated Urbana 62-46.  16 pts., 9 reb. playing half the game.  He had missed 4 of his team’s previous 5 games with a sore ankle.  While he was out, his team had a 10-game winning streak snapped.

01.11.18 - Normal West High School’s state-ranked basketball team will be without star junior center Francis Okoro for at least one game and perhaps more because of a nagging ankle injury.

Coach Brian Cupples said Thursday the 6-foot-9 Okoro aggravated the injury in practice on Tuesday. The Class 4A No. 7-ranked Wildcats (11-2, 4-0 in the Big 12 Conference) have a Big 12 contest Friday at Peoria High and will play two games each on Saturday and Monday in the Rockton Hononegah MLK Tournament at Rockton.

“It’s been something that’s been lingering. He did it way back in the beginning of the season,” Cupples said. “We’ll see how long (he’s out). I’m for sure he won’t play (Friday). We want him to get healthy.”

Okoro, rated the top junior in the state, earned Most Valuable Player honors while leading West to the recent Pekin Holiday Tournament championship. He is averaging 15.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game and has blocked 19 shots.

“He’s shown he bounces back quickly,” Cupples said. “But it’s just time to get healthy and quit messing around with it. It’s time to back off a little bit … take a few nights off and a couple of games off, get healthy and then monitor him the rest of the year in practice.”

01.05.18 – Defeated Peoria Richwoods 55-46.  5 pts. , 7 reb.

12.29.17 – Defeated Springfield Lanphier 52-48.  Okoro had four massive dunks among his game-high 19 points, 14 rebounds and sank two free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining to clinch Jeff Stoner Tourney MVP honors and guide West to its first title in 23 holiday appearances here.

12.29.17 – Defeated Morton 48-32.  10 pts.

12.29.17 – Defeated Lake Zurich 60-51.  22 pts., 12 reb.

12.28.17 – Defeated Limestone 55-51.  14 pts., 7 reb.  He received a pre-game technical for dunking in warm-ups.

12.15.17 – Defeated Peoria Notre Dame 51-41.  20 pts., 6 reb., 1 blk. 

12.09.17 – Defeated Moline 50-47.  9 pts., 12 reb., 3 blks.

12.09.17 – Defeated Bloomington 49-43.  14 pts., 17 reb., 4 blks.

12.01.17 – Defeated Champaign Centennial 59-52.  21pts., 17 reb.  He was 10-13 from the field.

11.28.17 – Defeated Central Catholic 47-44.  13 pts., 10 reb., 1 blk.

11.25.17 – Lost to Normal Community 53-50.  19 pts., 11 reb.

11.24.17 – Lost to Bloomington 53-50.  22 pts. 14 reb., 2 blks.

11.23.17 – Defeated University High 50-47.  16 pts., 7 reb.

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10 minutes ago, HoosierCoop said:

I just saw on the Illini forum that they were pissed that an IU assistant was at the last game and no Illini representation.  The dance of the dead is occurring in that forum.

Other than that forum, have you seen it anywhere else that one of IU's assistants was in attendance? I just did a quick twitter search of his name and only saw Matt Painter mentioned to be in attendance, but looked like it was from an Illinois fan's account. Just curious.

Edited by BH33

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1 hour ago, BH33 said:

Other than that forum, have you seen it anywhere else that one of IU's assistants was in attendance? I just did a quick twitter search of his name and only saw Matt Painter mentioned to be in attendance, but looked like it was from an Illinois fan's account. Just curious.

I haven't...sorry.

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2/23 - Normal West lost to Lincoln 37-34.  Okoro with 11 pts. and 10 reb.

2/27 - NW defeated East Moline 51-38.  Okoro with 16 pts., 13 reb., 5 blks.

3/2 - NW (22-9) beaten by Rock Island in the Class 4A Rock Island Regional.  Okoro 16 pts. and 17 reb.

 

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Okoro and his Bradley Beal Elite AAU are participating in an NY2LA event this weekend and were beaten by D. J. Carton and Quad City Elite 48-46 in their first game.  Detailed stats aren't readily available but I did see the following:  

Francis Okoro – 2019 – F/C – Bradley Beal Elite
Okoro just activates beast mode and nobody can match his physicality and intensity inside. A strong, athletic post that relishes contact, Okoro did a lot of damage in the paint in a loss to Quad City Elite. The top 50 prospect lives near the rim, putting home tough baskets and second chance opportunities. However, Okoro looks to be more improved with his back to the basket. He showed some nice footwork and skills on the block, able to finesse his way to buckets rather than just using brute force. One of the nation’s best rim protectors, Okoro did his job defensively, cleaning the glass and sending back shots from the opposition. 

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