Chisom Okpara Scouting Deepdive
What to expect from Stanford transfer Chisom Okpara this season.
When you watch college basketball it’s easy to tell when a player has a clear physical advantage over his peers. Most of the time these players rely so heavily on these physical traits that their overall skill level suffers, keeping them from reaching a very attainable ceiling. We must be weary when analyzing this archetype of player, and instead of focusing on what makes them great today, attempt to visualize what could allow them to reach their ceiling tomorrow.
That’s what I’m going to try to do today when I break down Stanford’s Chisom Okpara, a player who in only two years of college has proven to be one of the most dominant players in the NCAA. Okpara is perhaps the pound-for-pound strongest player in college basketball and uses this strength to regularly tear through opponents. However, his ancillary skills give me hope that he can reach his ceiling, and if he does that, he could become a very real NBA contributor.
That said, let’s break down Okpara’s game, what his role at Stanford may look like, and what he must do to cement himself as an NBA prospect.
Player Profile:
Chisom Okpara is a 6’8” and 225lb forward coming off his sophomore season with Harvard where he helped lead the Crimson to a middling 14-13 record. After this disappointing season, Okpara entered his name into the transfer portal and eventually decided to join the Stanford Cardinal and head coach Kyle Smith.
Prior to his collegiate career, he spent time at three different high schools, finishing his prep career at La Lumiere School in Indiana. He wasn’t an incredibly highly touted recruit, finishing his career as a three-star recruit who didn’t crack the top 100 rankings. He shared the floor with players such as Aden Holloway, JJ Starling, and Jeremy Fears at La Lumiere, cementing himself more as a solid role player during his time there. In fact, he has been far more successful at the collegiate level.
He had a solid freshman season for the Crimson, contributing valuable minutes off the bench and finishing with decent averages. Then this past season, Okpara’s sophomore campaign, was when he took his first major leap.
He improved in nearly every statistical category, and arguably became Harvard’s best two-way player. He put up averages of 16.5 points per game, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, .7 steals, and .8 blocks on shooting splits of 47.9% from the field, 33.8% from beyond the arc, and 67.3% from the free-throw line. Now he heads to Stanford, where he’s slated to start alongside Maxime Raynaud to form one of my favorite front courts in the nation.
Interior Scoring:
Scoring in the paint is undoubtedly Okpara’s most prolific skill and for good reason. We’ll talk about how happy I am that he has diversified his game throughout this article, but don’t mistake that for me talking down on his bread and butter.
Okpara is nearly unstoppable on attempts near the rim, and he does everything in his power to create interior scoring opportunities throughout games. Sure, he’s a capable outside shooter now, and sure, he’s a willing passer, but it’s incredibly apparent that he is constantly searching for looks in the paint.
His impressive strength combined with a myriad of supplementary skills allows him to impose his will in this area of the floor. That strength is going to be evident throughout this entire write up, so let’s look at some of those other skills that support this aspect of his game.
For being such a strength-based talent, Okpara is surprisingly smooth on his feet and fluid when driving to the basket. Now, he’s no lead guard, but he’s far more comfortable in these scenarios than you would expect from a bruiser such as himself.
In fact, this ability to apply rim pressure starting at the perimeter is an aspect of his interior scoring game that has improved over time and will likely continue to do so. Why? Because he has developed a respectable outside shot. Opponents are now forced to defend him on the perimeter, giving him the leverage necessary to find his way to the hoop easier and more often.
See the last two clips above where he’s able to utilize jab steps and shot fakes to get his defender off-balance and create an artificial driving lane in the process. Another running theme throughout the interior scoring section is going to be Okpara’s finishing acumen. He’s an uber talented finisher capable of converting on at-the-rim attempts as if he were a shifty guard with good-feel.
His ability to finish at such an elite level turns low efficiency shots into high efficiency ones, making him an incredibly productive scorer from this part of the floor.
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