I had this in the back of my mind when news first came out about Oriakhi transferring out of UConn for his senior season. Seems like he'd be a perfect fit for one year at Ohio State (if they do not land Tony Parker). He's athletic and pretty skilled. He also played an important role on a Big East/NCAA tournament champion already.
Clubhouse leaders to land his services at this point are UNC, Duke, Mizzou, and UK, with Ohio State being one of the others he has interest in.
Good idea/bad idea?
Anytime you can get a player that helps your team get better its a good idea.
It's good to be home.
When would he be eligible?
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
I think people were saying he'd be eligible right away because of the issues at UCONN
He'd be eligibile right away because UConn can't go dancing next year because of APR scores.
He could fill in next year at either the 4 or 5, and you could have a nice 3-4 man rotation of Oriakhi, Ravenal, Williams, and Spoon.
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
I've seen the guy play several times, and he's a decent player. This is kind of a 'one and done' scenario as he's only got one more year of eligibility available wherever he ends up. BUT he can play right away, which would be a plus.
From his list of potential suitors, its clear the kid is interested in playing for a competitive team that has a chance at winning. I can't see Kentucky taking him, even if they lose their top 6 starters from this year's squad. They have a good incoming class and are still working on bringing in more. But Calipari is meeting with him today according to this, so who knows:
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/blogs/dog-house/Calipari-to-Meet-With-Oriakhi-Report-146265575.html
To me, fair or not, the kid is just a more skillful version of Evan Ravenel. He has experience, though, and if Tony Parker doesn't commit (which @ this point I doubt he comes to Columbus), he could be a good addition.
My BIG concern though is that next year's team, especially if we lose DeShaun Thomas, will need scorers. When I look at our potential lineups for next season I am worried about where the points are going to come from. Oriakhi is not a scorer.
As someone said before, he is a decent player. I'm a Uconn bball fan(bucks 4football) and the kid can be completely frustrating to watch. He's got the talent but seemed to lay down this year when Andre Drummond came to campus. Definitely took a huge step back for us. He can be a nice player but don't expect him to replace sullinger down low. Hopefully he"ll be motivated to play on a new team but don't get too excited.
Also he will be immediately eligible only if Uconn can't play in next years tourney due to the APR, which has not been decided yet. However if Uconn is cleared and can dance next year, normal transfer rules apply and he will have to sit out a year
How big of an upgrade is he over Williams? I would rather start the development of Williams rather than have Oriakhi taking some of those minutes. We also have the young McDonald kid who was highly ranked for his position coming out of high school in Michigan. I don't like the idea.
We're so thin on big men it wouldnt really be taking too many minutes from Amir's development. Would be good to have him, rav, and amir rotating around the 4 and 5 spots with maybe another smaller player (thompson/weatherspoon) when we have a small lineup out.
The article I linked above says that Oriakhi wants to be 'promised' 30 minutes a game.
I don't see OSU being able to both develop Williams and give Oriakhi 30 minutes a game, unless you're playing them both at the same time. I can't see Thad telling him he can give him 30 minutes. Now if a slick used car salesman like Calipari really wants him, he'll probably promise Oriakhi 50 minutes a game.
30 minutes per game is a bit steep, and you don't want to stunt Amir's development. At the same time, though, if this becomes a possibility and Matta strongly considers it, he would have a reason for doing so...
@Nuts4Bucks - McDonald is still another year away from significant contribution IMO. By his junior/senior years, I can see him giving some valuable minutes, but I doubt he's going to see a ton of time next year, no matter who's in front of him.
@TennBuckeye19 - I agree about the lack of scoring for next year if DT takes off, but as I alluded to in my post about Next Year's Starters, this could be an elite defensive team. Points may be hard to come by, but this group has #1 ranked defensive efficiency written all over it. Oriakhi would be another banger who could provide a strong rebounding and shot-blocking presence. OSU may not be able to score at a high frequency next year, but they'll sure as heck make it tough on everyone else to outscore them.
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
OldColumbus- Your thoughts on the defense are valid. I think with the line-ups we may see next year for OSU, defense will have to be the emphasis (not that it hasn't been) but we will need elite defense to create offense.
Do we have any sort of outside threat for next year? This year we really missed having a consistent 3 point shooter a la Diebler in the fold. Having a 3 point specialist that is automatic from 3 like Diebler would have helped us tremedously this year.
I mean...we went farther without Diebler.
Oriahki didn't even average 7 and 5 and he wants 30 minutes at an "elite" program? Not sure how well he'll fit here as we've already got 2 solid defensive guys down low in Williams and Ravs. I could see it happening if Tank leaves and Spoon transfers.
McDonald...:sigh: He was a 3-star recruit, somewhere in the 20-25 rank among centers last year. The next best team to offer him after OSU was either Dayton or Wake Forest (Iowa and Miami as well). Not really sure why we offered him...he's a "project" player who MIGHT pan out into a 10-12 minutes a game type of player.
If/when this team struggles to score next year, I would not be surprised to see Matta employ full-court, man-to-man pressure. Think about the defenders on this team, and then with an elite shot blocker under the rim (Williams). Could be a very effective way to get some easy transition baskets for a team that will struggle in the halfcourt.
Craft, Scott, Smith, Thompson - all are/can be elite perimeter defenders. Weatherspoon can be a very strong defender at the 3 or 4. Ravenal will have another year of work under Boals on the defensive end, and has shown he can make it tough on post men to score.
Ross may be needed even more next year if his reputed scoring ability is legit. Same goes for Sibert. If either sees the floor, they won't be terrible defenders, and Sibert has shown an ability to actually be good on that end as well.
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
I like this we just need a big that can score 6-10 points and keep Amir's minutes when he is in a slump. Besides I'd much rather have him than spoon who might transfer.
" I went for two cause I couldn't go for three."
-woody Hayes
He's also a one and done with experience.
" I went for two cause I couldn't go for three."
-woody Hayes
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7779554/uconn-lose...
That settles that.
Imagine a 3 man front court of Amir, Oriahki, and Ross. 3 tall, long, legit shot blockers. Throw Thomspon at the 2 and that's a tough team to shoot over.