2010 BU Recruit- Michael Ocherobia

[Da Coach]

DC, is there reason to believe this clearing process will go smoother than the JW one and that MO will be here next year?

I really don't have any information to say with authority, but the Canarias Basketball Academy has placed nearly 20 kids in Division I schools in the past 3 or 4 years, and all of them got through the NCAA Clearinghouse process OK, and all qualified academically. The people who run the CBA also say that there should be no problem with Michael Ocherobia. His schooling was in England, where transcripts and verifiability is usually not the same kind of problem that has been seen with kids from African countries. I hear the Bradley coaches are not worried.
Nonetheless, given the problems some Bradley recruits have had (John Wilkins, Dwight Buycks, Xavier Crawford, DeAaron Williams, etc.), I don't blame Bradley fans for worrying about it. All we can do is wait and see.

And Ocherobia is a strong verbal commitment to Bradley. He is not going to end up changing that.

[BSSFan#1]

I hope this doesn't turn into us talking and wondering about him a year from now like we are for JW.

He's already 21. If this takes as long as Wilkins, Ocherobia will be collecting social security before the NCAA decides anything.

Well, I guess he's not eligible for social security since he hasn't worked in the US.

[Da Coach]

And regarding Dave Reynolds' statement- "It is believed that Ocherobia would have at least three years of college eligibility beginning this fall."

There is no reason I can see why Michael Ocherobia would not have a full 4 years of eligibility. The NCAA does have something called the 21 year old rule, but I don't think it would apply to Ocherobia.-

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/ncaa/NCAA/Legislation%20and%20Governance/Eligibility%20and%20Recruiting/Faqs/eligibility_seasons.html

It says-
In Division I only, if a student-athlete has participated as an individual or as a team representative in organized sports competition, that kind of participation during each 12-month period after his/her 21st birthday and prior to initial full-time collegiate enrollment will count as one year of varsity competition in that sport. Any participation in organized competition during time spent in the U.S. armed services will be excepted.

Since Ocherobia has been in the prep school and not participated in organized competetion, and he is currently 20 years old, and will not be 21 until July, he should not lose any eligibility time.

[BU RICK]

This is just my opinion so don't be mad at me. What I don't understand is why you guys feel the need to talk about potential recruits before they are in hand. We've been told that other coaches read our site, so why give them information what we're up to, someone could go after them, loose lips sink ships. How did the PJS get that information and who gave it to them, tell me that.

[shaunguth]

This is just my opinion so don't be mad at me. What I don't understand is why you guys feel the need to talk about potential recruits before they are in hand. We've been told that other coaches read our site, so why give them information what we're up to, someone could go after them, loose lips sink ships. How did the PJS get that information and who gave it to them, tell me that.

They obviously have rock-solid sources......I mean John Wilkins did verbal to Iowa State.......right?

[tornado]

He's already 21. ..

incorrect, he is currently 20, he turns 21 on July 27, 2010.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ewga9DMbaWoJ:www.cbacademy.org/panel_de_control/archivos_subidos/CBA%2520MEDIA%2520GUIDE%2520%2520TOUR%2520USA%2520low.pdf+%22michael+ocherobia%22+and+%221989%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh2bBRpCWcJZdpOBRiYZQWvgoBSxM56toBQgQtWDf28puJsOZ_9qGbE8pPFta-p8JXZGbQLl3DxJlft0wYJPquf3cu9ZhRbjAe-k-t3-tm_zC1nQH5GUc7Nuzc-SsYknNU9cU7j&sig=AHIEtbRF1pes_2EQuDQswVNOcKcVGpWICg

He is roughly the same age as or a little older than Milos Knezevic, Jake & DSE --
..and is just a little younger than Will Egolf & AT

They obviously have rock-solid sources......I mean John Wilkins did verbal to Iowa State.......right?

I believe all too often some in the journalism profession use web sources such as message boards and wikipedia...

[BU freak]

This has been common knowledge for awhile so I am sure Dave Reynolds would not have put it in the paper without the blessing of Coach Les. It has been on the pjstar boards for awhile. This is not a Wilkins situation. CBA has placed a lot of kids in Division 1 so there shouldn't be a problem, its just gonna take some time. Let's hope everything gets done before the signing date ends so we can lock him in.

[BU_EMT128]

And Ocherobia is a strong verbal commitment to Bradley. He is not going to end up changing that.

Where have I heard this same story before.... I believe nothing until a LOI is inked.

[ER3]

This is just my opinion so don't be mad at me. What I don't understand is why you guys feel the need to talk about potential recruits before they are in hand. We've been told that other coaches read our site, so why give them information what we're up to, someone could go after them, loose lips sink ships. How did the PJS get that information and who gave it to them, tell me that.

This is 2010....not 1970...

There are thousands of websites that are dedicated to providing information about college basketball recruiting...who's visiting where...what schools are looking at every guy out there...prospect databases...videos...rankings...you name it.

No college coaching staff is looking at bradleyfans.com every morning to see who Bradley is recruiting so they can fire up their private jet and fly to the Canary Islands or Bartonville, Illinois and try and steal whatever recruit Jim Les might be looking at.

If a kid can play and is looking for a D-I opportunity, programs will find out about him...and when they do find out about him, it certainly won't be from a college basketball message board in Peoria, IL that has maybe a hundred visitors a day.

[Da Coach]

This is just my opinion so don't be mad at me. What I don't understand is why you guys feel the need to talk about potential recruits before they are in hand. We've been told that other coaches read our site, so why give them information what we're up to, someone could go after them, loose lips sink ships. How did the PJS get that information and who gave it to them, tell me that.

Gee, I guess we can't please everyone.
Some fans have known about Mike Ocherobia for almost 2 months. This site intentionally kept this information confidential at the request of people involved, so not to adversely affect his recruiting. Now that he is 100% committed to Bradley, we have continued to keep the info off the boards, while posters on other bulletin boards (who are not Bradley fans) have chosen to publically discuss it.
But now that the info has finally reached the PJ Star and gotten published widely, I don't see any reason that the true Bradley fans here shouldn't be informed about Michael Ocherobia since there is little known about him, and little available on the internet, and everyone wants to know about this athletic big man.

[mrcoachdude]

ER3 I think you are narrowing the field down to far by saying a message board...word of mouth and the internet are the biggest avenues for coaches to find out about players...so to single this site out...you may be right, but when the word gets out..it gets out...and it can start here... you think that the recruiting sites don't take a look at various sites to get their info? I believe we have had recruiting sites post here...

I can tell you that I knew that a coach from Colorado St and Oklahoma visited the Island a week before the signing period...now how did i know that? It was not posted here....but with information I got here I found out...

your right its not 1970 message boards and the internet were not available...

[Boiler]

Just get this guy signed!

[Da Coach]

This is 2010....not 1970...

There are thousands of websites that are dedicated to providing information about college basketball recruiting...who's visiting where...what schools are looking at every guy out there...prospect databases...videos...rankings...you name it.

No college coaching staff is looking at bradleyfans.com every morning to see who Bradley is recruiting so they can fire up their private jet and fly to the Canary Islands or Bartonville, Illinois and try and steal whatever recruit Jim Les might be looking at.

If a kid can play and is looking for a D-I opportunity, programs will find out about him...and when they do find out about him, it won't be from a college basketball message board in Peoria, IL that has maybe a hundred visitors each day.

You are wrong about this. I suggest you talk to just about any coach who has ever worked at the D1 level and you will find out.
Some college coaches will do anything to get ahead or stay ahead. Division I is very competetive, and every coach knows he could lose his job anytime if he doesn't succeed.
There are coaches who will use negative recruiting techniques, and have done so against Bradley in the past, to try to interfere with Bradley getting the recruits they are seeking. Even if a coach doesn't want a kid for his team, there are some who will use negative recruiting to keep the kid from going to their rival. It doesn't just happen against Bradley either.
Again, ask any D1 coach. None of them ever talk or complain about these things publically, but it happens abundantly.
And Bradley's coaches aren't the only ones that try to keep information about who they are recruiting secret. Most D1 coaches do this. Many times we will see a kid commit to a school that nobody knew was even in the picture with the kid until he commits. There have been numerous examples of this just these past couple weeks since the LOI period began.

And Mrcoachdude is correct- maybe other coaches don't necessarily read the opposition's message boards. But info that appears on message boards about a new recruit often finds it's way onto the recruiting sites like Rivals, Scout, and there are many more, and from there it's easy for other coaches to find out who's recruiting who.

[tornado]

I have been told personally on several ocasions by a well known D-I head coach, that he does check message boards occasionally, including this one, and he's even complimented me on the fact that Bradley's board is way better than most!!
And if you choose to believe they would NOT use info on blogs, websites, and message boards about recruits, then you are fully entitled to believe it, but you have not done any recsearch on it and are likely just offering opinion....but they do.

[LittleBrave]

Well, I am glad to hear Braves news one way or another.
I don't see this kid being pushed around in the paint like some of our guys were last year. I know that TB is only 6'6", but if he improves on his rebounding, as he showed he definitely could last year, 2nd chance points will not be as much a factor in 2010-'11.
Maybe he's the X-factor we need to make us Valley contenders?
We can't expect him to take over games or be the top scorer, but he can give us help in the intangibles and free up our guards to score more easily.
I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm staying positive that we'll get this guy in a Braves uni.