It took all but one glance at Nigerian-born shooting guard Josh Okogie to dub him one of the most physically intriguing two-guard prospects at Nike Global Challenge. Standing at least 6' 4” with a strong frame, huge hands and what appeared to be a near 7-foot wingspan, Okogie instantly won the physical profile battle among shooting guards at the tournament. Although not overly tall, Okogie is strong, long, quick and explosive and showed flashes of a fairly impressive skill set.
Okogie lacked consistency throughout the tournament as he battled poor body language and decision making, but he proved comfortable handling the ball, can shoot it a little bit both off the catch and the bounce, and has monster potential on the defensive end.
While very lazy when not engaged, when Okogie is locked in he shows tremendous technique lifting his inside foot to fight over screens. He covers ground quickly as an on-ball defender and can constantly poke the ball away with his length. When focused, Okogie was without a doubt one of the best on ball perimeter defenders at the tournament while showing the ability to fly around off the ball, highlighted by several chase-down blocks in transition.
On the offensive end, Okogie was a bit of a mixed bag. For stretches (especially during his 22-point game versus China) he looked very comfortable with the ball, weaving through traffic in transition, finishing around the rim effectively in the half court, making pull up or spot jumpers (while sporting a low release point) and even finding a big underneath from time to time.
Okogie has outstanding speed in the open court, uses his length and athleticism to finish, and was able to knock down 5-of-13 shots from beyond the arc. When Okogie was going well, he looked like one of the best perimeter players at the tournament, but when he would string together a few bad plays, the wheels fell off.
Okogie had a six-turnover, 2-for-10 game vs USA East that was filled with forced passes, low percentage shots, bad body language and very little natural feel for the game. Over the course of three games Okogie racked up only three assists while committing 12 turnovers. His decision-making and feel for the game need quite a bit of work, as does his motor when things go wrong.
But from a physical tools and skill set standpoint, Okogie has plenty of upside and could end up being a steal for whatever college he attends as long as the head coach is able to reel him in a bit. It's tough to find shooting guards with size, strength, quickness and length who can handle, finish and shoot a little bit. Okogie is a work in progress, but he's without a doubt worth tracking as a sleeper type moving forward.
