The spark was unexpected and was one of those moments that if you blinked, you probably missed it.
For the better part of 30 minutes, West Virginia’s 76-58 victory over Mount St. Mary’s was not exactly what you would call a thrill ride.
That’s the moment James Okonkwo made his presence known.
Before we get into what the 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward accomplished, there is a back story.
For much of last season, we heard stories of Okonkwo’s athleticism and leaping ability.
“Bouncy” was the word WVU head coach Bob Huggins would toss out there from time to time, yet Okonkwo was just 18 years old at the time and was simply not ready, so he appeared in just three games.
Fast forward a year, and Okonkwo is not some wide-eyed young kid anymore.
“I get on him everyday, because I know how good he can be,” WVU forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. said.
And so we get to Monday night. There is 12:15 remaining and WVU is holding on to a ho-hum 40-29 lead.
That’s when Mount St. Mary’s guard Jalen Benjamin found himself under the rim for what could have been a pretty easy lay-up.
Okonkwo went up with both hands and simply took the ball out of Benjamin’s hands as he was releasing it.
The play got called a block, but it could have also been counted as a steal, because that’s how quick Okonkwo got into the air. He basically took the ball away from Benjamin, rather than rejecting his shot.
It was just a minute later when Dakota Leffew went driving toward the rim for another lay-up attempt.
This one was definitely a block, as Okonkwo leaped into the air and got his hand somewhere near the top of the square on the backboard for the rejection.
It was the type of moments seen before in the Coliseum, and this is where we’ve got to be careful.
The blocks were reminiscent of what former WVU forward Sagaba Konate used to pull off in games a few years back.
You remember those plays, if not, they’re all over YouTube.
Yet, no one is ready to simply have the blocked-shot torch passed to Okonkwo. Not just yet.
“I would think it’d be a terrible mistake to compare him to Sags,” Huggins said. “James is getting better and better. He is bouncy and he’s quick off his feet.”
Okonkwo added five rebounds to go with the two blocked shots. He made the only shot he attempted on offense.
In the 15 minutes he played, you saw a glimpse of potential. In truth, Konate didn’t just walk onto WVU’s campus and become an instant sensation.
And Okonkwo may just be the same way. He is raw and inexperienced at the moment.
But, down the road …
“His ability to time the ball, to time the release point, I don’t want to say he’s like Sags, don’t try to get that out of me,” Matthews said. “He’s in that same neighborhood. He’s really young. He’s only 19. I was watching Sags do what he did when he was 22.
“When you go another three years for James, he could be just like that.”
Matthews said there was a day in practice when he attempted to shoot a hook shot against Okonkwo.
“He jumped up and his head was at the rim,” Matthews said. “He just grabbed it. He’s definitely on his way.”
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