Big Man Finally off the Board
Kenechukwu Obi is a big big man. At 7’2 and almost 270 pounds his size alone was enough to warrant consideration from the highest levels of college basketball. And very late in the game DePaul finally decided to pull the trigger on what could end up to be a diamond in the rough player.
When Obi arrived at South Kent School last fall his game was very raw. But after a year of competing against one of the deepest and most talented front lines in all of the nation on a daily basis, the Nigerian native is beginning to show signs of realizing his potential.
Even with his rapid development this year it is unlikely that Obi will be equipped to make an impact in the Big East next season. In fact it wouldn’t be surprising if Obi’s first year on the Chicago campus was spent as a red shirt player. Nevertheless you have to give head coach Jerry Wainwright and his staff credit, because if you are going to take a gamble on a player he might as well be 7’2.
And in actuality it’s not just Obi’s size that makes him appealing. He also has excellent instincts, good hands, and incredible power. Further more, he only started learning the game three seasons ago and so he has a long way to go before he realizes his potential.
The first time we saw Obi was on the first day of the fall “Live” period at an open gym session at South Kent. While Obi labored somewhat to get up and down the floor and fouled on almost every defensive possession you could already see glimpses of something special. On one play the big man grabbed a rebound with one hand and then in a single motion pulled the ball behind his head and fired a baseball pass three quarters down the court that hit the target in stride for a break away lay-up. And that is an instinct play, the type of thing that can’t be taught with all the big man workouts in the world.
A year later Obi still has his size and instincts but now he is also in better physical condition, has a solid foundation in the fundamentals of post player on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, and has a better idea of how to make his size work for him. With even further development at DePaul it wouldn’t be surprising at all to find the gifted big man impacting Big East games in a big way a year or two down the road.
Kenechukwu Obi