MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — James Okonkwo confirmed through his Twitter account Sunday that he is about to make one interesting jump to the WVU men’s basketball team.
Just hours after competing in the Nike Peach Jam AAU tournament in Georgia, Okonkwo signed his National Letter of Intent and will enroll at WVU in August for the fall semester.
The interesting part: Okonkwo, just 17-years old, was just a month away from beginning his junior year of high school.
“I’m extremely blessed to be in the position that I am in now and I’m excited to announce that after long consideration I will be enrolling at WVU in the fall of 2021,” Okonkwo tweeted.
A 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward originally from Maidenhead, England, Okonkwo played last season as a sophomore at Beckley Prep for head coach Justin Dempsey.
WVU wasn’t expecting to receive Okonkwo’s letter of intent until Monday, when it can make his signing official. WVU coaches are not permitted by NCAA rules to discuss any recruit until they have received his signed letter.
While it’s not exactly rare for high school athletes to graduate early and enroll in college, that generally happens after the junior season of competition.
Okonkwo is eligible for college in the United States before his high school junior year due to his grades from the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) program he took while still in England.
The GCSE is a series of tests in different subjects that students in England, Northern Ireland and Wales take as 15 and 16-year olds.
By U.S. standards, a GCSE is the equivalent of a high school diploma or GED.
He first committed to the Mountaineers in June to be part of the 2023 recruiting class.
Okonkwo was ranked a four-star prospect and as the No. 87 overall recruit nationally for the 2023 class by Rivals.com.
“I liked how genuine everyone was from the coaches to the players,” Okonkwo told the Blue&Gold News in June. “The culture of the program, and the facilities, everything I saw when I was able to visit after they opened up, their focus is on developing and getting better. That’s what I am all about too.”
Due to COVID-19, Beckley Prep was limited to just 13 games last season and Okonkwo missed some of those games due to a broken finger.
He also had a scholarship offer from Rutgers.
Okonkwo will take the 13th and final scholarship for the Mountaineers next season, but he announced on social media he was planning to redshirt and then play during the 2022-23 season.
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