On April 9th, Stanford freshman sensation Ibuka Okori just announced he's heading to the NBA draft after dominating the ACC in scoring. The guard averaged 23.2 points per game, finishing 8th nationally among all players and leading all freshmen in his conference. He came out of nowhere as an under-the-radar kid from New Hampshire with no big-time offers, but Coach Kyle Smith gave him a shot, and Okori turned, into a star right away in his only season with the Cardinal. Fans and analysts are buzzing about his instant impact, from dropping 26 points in his debut to a freshman record 36 against North Carolina and 40 over Georgia Tech.
He broke ACC records with 8 games with 30-plus points and earned first-team All-ACC honors plus honorable mention, All-American status. Digging deeper, Okori's all-around game shone with 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals for game stats. Matching legends like Jay Morant from back in college, his drives to the rim drew fouls like crazy, and he heated up from 3, hitting nearly 47% in his last 12 games. Scouts see him as a late-first-round pick, and with 719 points in one season, he's third all-time at Sanford.
The draft process kicks off now, and everyone's watching where this New Hampshire kid lands next.