2024 Transfer Portal Thread

#4,176
#4,176
oldaaucoach said:
Am I the only one who thinks this kid looks raw? Ohio State, which was sub-500 in the big10, felt a need to replace him with Aaron Bradshaw. There are several centers out there with more refined skills than Felix Okpara.
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At this point, I think he’s just a rim protector and another body.
 
#4,177
#4,177
oldaaucoach said:
Am I the only one who thinks this kid looks raw? Ohio State, which was sub-500 in the big10, felt a need to replace him with Aaron Bradshaw. There are several centers out there with more refined skills than Felix Okpara.
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But I look at what Barnes has done with raw bigs and am excited.... Because Felix is further along than Kyle, Aidoo, Awaka, Fulky, ON, etc. were when they got here.
 
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#4,183
#4,183
Stoerner Fumbles said:
He’s very raw, but athletic and coachable by all accounts. I think the upside is there, with good rebounding in the meantime.
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The thing I've liked about him since high school is that when he's close enough to dunk - he dunks - and tries to tear the backboard down. We've had too many missed bunnies the last few years when our guys either couldn't or just chose not to flush it
 
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#4,184
#4,184
MoCo_Vol said:
It's not a comparison, it's just stating a fact. Barnes is proven to be able to develop bigs that are raw talent guys he can do the same for Felix who is still young.
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When you say “____ is further along than ____” it is actually a direct comparison and the fact remains that he’s a 21 year old junior so his timeline for development is shortened.
 
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#4,185
#4,185
VolOnthePlains said:
When you say “____ is further along than ____” it is actually a direct comparison and the fact remains that he’s a 21 year old junior so his timeline for development is shortened.
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Okay, let me ask this way... is Felix with 2 years of P5 D1 basketball further along than those players out of HS, yes or no?

He's also only 20, as of 2 days ago.
 
#4,187
#4,187
Felix was born April 20th, 2004
JP Estrella was born September 3rd, 2004

Plenty of room to develop for him. Him and JP were higher rated outta HS and have far more potential ahead of them than Awaka or Aidoo.
 
#4,188
#4,188
Dougie_D said:
I know this is a bit off topic, but does Baylor just have tons of “oil” money to be thrown at these kids?
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More tie in’s with state policy makers. Lot of money trickles down from industries getting favorable contracts.
 
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#4,189
#4,189
MoCo_Vol said:
Okay, let me ask this way... is Felix with 2 years of P5 D1 basketball further along than those players out of HS, yes or no?

He's also only 20, as of 2 days ago.
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You’re stating that as a question that can be answered definitively when it’s kind of subjective. I’ve never seen him play a minute of basketball so I don’t know, his YouTube comp is 5 minutes of uncontested dunks and he’s a career 5/5 guy so I can’t say definitively if he’s better than say, Yves Pons was at 18. I kind of doubt it. He is currently 21 though, that is a fact.

F8335556-D2F1-4891-A0DA-50F8B7CA4D36.jpeg
 
#4,190
#4,190
VolOnthePlains said:
You’re stating that as a question that can be answered definitively when it’s kind of subjective. I’ve never seen him play a minute of basketball so I don’t know, his YouTube comp is 5 minutes of uncontested dunks and he’s a career 5/5 guy so I can’t say definitively if he’s better than say, Yves Pons was at 18. I kind of doubt it. He is currently 21 though, that is a fact.

View attachment 636133
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Weird... you screengrab the only website to have the wrong birthday listed.

1713815656279.png
1713815676205.png
1713815706720.png


His older brother, David Okpara was born January 9th, 2003 though... maybe they confused them?
1713815787016.png
 
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#4,191
#4,191
VolOnthePlains said:
You’re stating that as a question that can be answered definitively when it’s kind of subjective. I’ve never seen him play a minute of basketball so I don’t know, his YouTube comp is 5 minutes of uncontested dunks and he’s a career 5/5 guy so I can’t say definitively if he’s better than say, Yves Pons was at 18. I kind of doubt it. He is currently 21 though, that is a fact.

View attachment 636133
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What source are you using? Nbadraft.net lists his birthday as 4/20/04.
 
#4,192
#4,192
MoCo_Vol said:
Yeah the fact Igor and Tyson haven't committed even after taking visits after coming here has to be a positive for now...things always change, but I'm optimistic.
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Gotta be honest. If Barnes manages to get Lanier, Tyson and Igor PLUS Okpara, there's a bottle of 21 year single malt that I've been saving for a special occasion that's gonna be at serious risk.
 
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#4,193
#4,193
Stoerner Fumbles said:
He’s very raw, but athletic and coachable by all accounts. I think the upside is there, with good rebounding in the meantime.
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Plus he's not going to be seen as a threat to Estrella I don't think. Rim protector and rebounder plus physicality. If he can provide that when called upon, I think it's a solid fit.
 
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#4,194
#4,194
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#4,196
#4,196
oldaaucoach said:
Am I the only one who thinks this kid looks raw? Ohio State, which was sub-500 in the big10, felt a need to replace him with Aaron Bradshaw. There are several centers out there with more refined skills than Felix Okpara.
Click to expand...
He's raw, but in a lot of the same ways Tobe Awaka is raw. You've seen glimpses, but no consistency. He closed the season out with 3 straight NIT games where he posted 16/7, 13/6, and 12/7. Combined for 19-32 shooting (59.4%). He's probably an equal or better rim protector than Aidoo, but not quite the offensive skill-set.

I'm not sure Ohio State was looking at Bradshaw replacing Okpara as much as they'd have preferred to supplement Okpara with Bradshaw. Zed Key was the only other experienced returning player over 6-6. They needed depth and Okpara had said he was coming back, but he obviously saw Bradshaw as a threat to his playing time.
 
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#4,197
#4,197
Here's my thing with Felix... if he's a defensive rim protector, he's already an upgrade over any one we had on roster last year. He's just 5 months older than JP so growth potential is still there if you want to see his offensive game improve. But if you bring in Dubar and then land Tyson and/or Igor the 5 spot is no longer someone that you need scoring 10+ every night.

So upgrade to Awaka in size, upgrade over Aidoo in rim protector (seriously played less minutes this year and almost had 20 more blocks than Aidoo 83 to 66). And with his ability to finish at the rim you really just need him to learn the pick and roll game with ZZ and he's got the potential to be a 10/8/2 guy all day.
 
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#4,198
#4,198
MoCo_Vol said:
Felix was born April 20th, 2004
JP Estrella was born September 3rd, 2004

Plenty of room to develop for him. Him and JP were higher rated outta HS and have far more potential ahead of them than Awaka or Aidoo.
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I would strongly disagree with you. Felix has no touch. Almost all his points are dunks or bunnies and his FT percentage is terrible. There’s only so much room to grow when you simply have no touch. Awaka has that, and more skill to work with.

Felix will always be a role player to some degree that plays good defense and rebounds. Awaka can do that too but also has the potential to become an excellent player offensively. He’s already good (88th percentile on post ups).
 
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#4,199
#4,199
Btw who is this Sean Sparks guy? Seen him referenced a lot with transfers and stuff, but I've been out of the loop just enough to have missed when he became someone people relied on for credible info.
 
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