Josh Okogie was widely unknown until he competed in the 2018 NBA Combine Draft, where he had impressive statistics. He is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Although a good performance in the Combine is no more indicative of professional success than a bad performance indicates a failure, he is still preferred to a performance below par.
Here you will find everything you need to know about the selection of wolves in the first round.
Josh Okogie’s Bio
He was born in Lagos, Nigeria on September 1, 1998, as Joshua Aloiye Okogie, the fourth of five children of his Nigerian parents, Pius and Anthonia Okogie. His siblings include Evaristus, a dentist, Nathaniel, who played soccer at Brewton-Parker College, Rachael, and Emmanuel.
After his family moved to the USA, they lived in East Atlanta, where his basketball successes began. His favorite basketball players of all time include dunk icon Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry. As a child, Josh was very skilled and showed great piano, violin, and tuba skills, but had to give them up to concentrate on basketball in ninth grade when he was 11 years old. This decision finally paid off and took him all the way to the NBA.
He attended Shiloh High School in Snellville, Georgia, where he had an outstanding career after which he received a sports scholarship from Georgia Tech. As a rookie, he averaged 16.1 points, 5.4 rebounds per game, and made it into the 2017 ACC All-Freshman Team. In his second season, he led Georgia Tech with 18.2 points per game and was voted into the third Team 2017-2018 All-ACC, which led him to the decision to apply as an early candidate for the 2018 selection. He also participated in the U19 Men’s World Men’s Basketball Championship 2017 on June 22, 2017.
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However, he was not very sure if he would test the waters of the NBA until after the Draft Combin. His performance there impressed the scouts and brought him to the draft boards. He switched from a possible second-round to a first-round status and was praised for his athletic skills and tireless efforts.
Today, the draft boards have become one of the most important things in the NBA. A player who plays both offensively and defensively is of great advantage both in the regular season and in the playoffs. For example, Josh Okogie, the offensive, athletic, tenacious, and defensively versatile player attracted Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau with his rare athleticism and tenacity.
The Timberwolves selected him in the first round (20th overall selection), making him the highest-rated Nigerian player since Michael Olowokandi, who was selected first overall in the 1998 NBA Draft and third Nigerian in the first round since 2000. With the Wolves, he would finally have the chance to play alongside one of his peers, the versatile player he makes himself, Jimmy Butler (four-time NBA All-Star Guard). At last, Josh had dared to jump into the water with both feet without fear of the waves and storms that might be created. And knowing that he is where he should make it all the more an adventure worth exploring.
Josh Okogie Height, Weight, Body Measurements
Josh Okogie is a long-armed player with great physical skills and fascinating upward movements, especially on defense. In addition, he is a great advantage in a game that quickly becomes positionless as a two-way player combined with his ability to play in multiple positions. Just like Butler, who takes pride in both ends of the ground, Okogie could also be an offensive threat (his attacking play is very technical) and defend, bounce, and push the ball. His vertical jump of 42 centimeters, which was his highest at the combine, shows his ability to defend multiple positions.
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Although his college career had some shortcomings – some problems with ball-handling and shot selection – that may be due to a lack of talent in his environment, he can keep up with the perfect combination of size, length, and hardness in any defensive scheme.
In addition, on the weak side, he has excellent block play, natural shooting behavior, and the ability to get to the edge. He also showed some consistency in his shots, which were based on his college statistics: 38.4% on 3-point attempts as a rookie and 38% in his second season. His enormous wingspan of 7 feet should also help him play some small forwards in band line-ups. This gives him the potential to be a better finisher in the NBA than he was in college.
His physical tools include:
Height: 6′ 5″ (1.96 m)
Weight: 211 lb (96 kg)
Hand Length: 9 inches
Hand Width: 9.75″
