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CLASS OF 2013 INTRO: CHINONSO OBOKOH

By Matt Whitfield

Watching Chinonso Obokoh for the first time Saturday night at Hoop Group Elite Team Camp on the Albright College campus in Reading (PA) I saw a youngster whose defensive tenacity in the paint reminded me of a young Dennis Rodman . While many adolescents get ranked high in scouting services because of their potential based on size and athleticism, Obokoh actually uses his size and athletic ability to his advantage as he really battles his heart out on both ends of the floor.

“I’m kind of a defensive player. I try and work myself to [do] a lot of defensive stuff the players on the court can’t do like the guard, and the shooters. I just want to do everything,” said Obokoh.

Impressively, Obokoh has only been playing basketball for four years, as he only came over from Nigeria in the spring of 2010.

“I came over and I see the system of basketball here kind of [revolves around] strong men [who are] fast, and I have to train myself to become faster than the big men I play against. They might have a bigger body than me, but I try and be faster than them,” said Obokoh.

“Basically a lot of the Big East, Big Ten, Pac 10, some ACC, then you got Colonial schools. James Madison and University of Buffalo have already offered him,” said his high school coach, Jon Boon, of Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester (NY).

Boon mentioned specifically some of the big time programs in the running for Chinonso, several of which have made regular visits to the upstate New York school.

“Iowa, Michigan, Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, USC, Miami and Washington,” said Boon.

When asked about his potential and how far he sees himself going with basketball Obokoh responded that he just wants to take things one step at a time.

“I’m going to leave it to God to see how far I can go. I just want to go to college after high school and then get my degree and see how far I can go from there,” he said.

Before college Obokoh wants to work on some basic skills to continue to improve.

“I need to work on my shooting skills, dribbling skills, and footwork. Just basic stuff.”

Now that you know the name Chinonso Obokoh as one to watch in the rising junior class (’13), sit back and see how far he goes. With the athletic ability and size he already has, his ceiling is very high. Plus, Obokoh is not afraid to use that size and athleticism to his advantage to be productive. Sometimes that is the hardest aspect to learn. With that, one might say he is ahead of the curve despite being relatively new to the game.

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