Okoro Reaching His Goals Thanks To Attitude, Work Ethic
03/05/19 | Men's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
Freshman post Francis Okoro takes a methodical approach to his development with the Ducks, and it paid off with his most productive week of the season last week.
Among the steps newcomers to the Oregon basketball team take during orientation is to provide biographical information: Full name, hometown and, if available, an academic major.
As often as not, new Ducks arrive with little idea of what subjects they'll want to pursue in the classroom. Most guys stick with "undeclared" initially. Francis Okoro is not most guys.
This past fall, a UO staffer was assembling bio information for the Ducks' freshmen. A couple others had settled for "undeclared" as a major. Presumably, Okoro was asked, that would be the case for him as well?
"No," Okoro answered emphatically. "Computer science."
Okoro arrived at Oregon a year early after reclassifying from a class of 2019 recruit to the class of 2018, enabling him to enroll as a freshman for this season. He was able to do so because he's methodical in thinking about his future, which is also paying dividends on the basketball court for the Ducks.
The UO men open their final week of the regular season at Washington State on Wednesday (8 p.m., FS1). The Ducks bring some momentum into the week after a home sweep of the Arizona schools, and Okoro has some personal momentum after enjoying his best week yet with the Ducks, tallying a combined 17 points and 17 rebounds in 41 total minutes against the Sun Devils and Wildcats.
Okoro tied his career high with 10 points against Arizona, and set a new career best with 10 rebounds against ASU. He also provided a vocal leadership presence in practices earlier in the week and then the games, drawing a comparison by UO coach Dana Altman to former Oregon star Dillon Brooks for the way Okoro raised the level of focus and competitiveness in his teammates.
"He was a presence," Altman said.
To hear Okoro tell it, that was all part of his plan. In a sport rife with one-and-done players looking to quickly enter the professional ranks, Okoro came to Oregon with a methodical approach to developing himself, on and off the court.
"I have a plan," said Okoro, a native of Nigeria who graduated from high school in Illinois. "This year, my plan was to dominate the post. Next year, I'll move on to the next plan. …. I believe a lot in progress. I believe it's going to take time, and I just have to keep working. I might have a good game today and there might not be a good game tomorrow. I've just got to focus on getting better."
The Ducks greatly appreciated watching Okoro's plan come to fruition last week. On a team of athletic but slight big men including Kenny Wooten and Miles Norris, Okoro is a broad-shouldered presence in the low post, ripping rebounds away from opponents and bullying his way to the rim for baskets.
But Okoro can take a lighter touch as well when necessary. At one point Saturday, Arizona forced the Ducks to switch on defense, and guard Will Richardson found himself matched up with a post player, forced to commit a foul rather than surrender an easy basket. With play stopped after the foul was whistled, Richardson turned to Okoro with a look of frustration on his face – a look that quickly disappeared after a few calming words from Okoro.
"I just need to be positive," Okoro said. "Coach talks about being positive every day, regardless of how things are going for you, so I felt like I needed to do that. And I'm not just the only one; most of the guys on the team do it. Some people do it differently."
Team chemistry is a delicate thing, and players must earn the right to have a leadership role. Okoro might seem like an unlikely candidate, as a guy who has started less than half of the Ducks' games, averaging just 2.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.
But Altman said Okoro's credibility with teammates is much deserved.
"Guys still respect work ethic," Altman said. "They know who's out here, who's putting in the time. They respect discipline. They respect a guy who, even if they joke about it, a guy that gets up every morning, does what he's supposed to do, goes early to class. They might not act like it, but deep down they wish they had that kind of discipline to get stuff done. So yeah, he's got credibility. He does what he's supposed to do."
Given that Okoro was relatively late to take up basketball, his game is very much in the early stages of development. But he's progressed by leaps and bounds this season, by being an attentive student to Altman and his assistants, in particular Mike Mennenga, who puts Okoro through individual drills.
Already adding polish as a low-post scorer, Okoro has the potential to expand his arsenal by adding a mid-range jump shot next season, Altman said. That's the plan, at least, and Okoro has shown himself to be relentlessly driven to achieve his goals.
"He has a purpose academically, a purpose on the floor, and he's working very hard," Altman said. "He's a really, really good young man, who we're really excited to work with. It's a great pleasure to work with a guy who comes in and says, 'I want to have this goal for year one, year two, year three.'"
