Huskers land Winthrop grad transfer center Okeke
After months of seemingly nothing but bad news for the program, Nebraska came back with quite the weekend over the past few days.
Two days after landing four-star Rivals150 guard Thomas Allen, the Huskers picked up another commitment from Winthrop graduate transfer center Duby Okeke on Sunday afternoon.
Okeke announced his commitment via his Instagram page.
"The last month or so, it's been a lot to deal with, just not knowing about next year and a whole bunch of schools reached out to me," Okeke told HuskerOnline.com. "I was just trying to see what was the best fit and what route I should take.
"This whole weekend at Nebraska, it was really comfortable for me. My teammates, the coaching staff, everything felt right."
Chukwudubem 'Duby' Okeke (pronounced like Doobie Okay-kay) is a 6-foot-8, 230-pound native of Jonesboro, Ga., who boasts a 7-4 wingspan and leaves Winthrop as the school's all-time leading shot blocker, posting 165 blocks over the past three seasons.
He was known for powerful dunks and being a legit rim protector, but his offensive production wasn't much. He averaged 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds over his 94 career games.
Okeke averaged 3.2 points on 60 percent shooting and 3.9 rebounds this past season, and he ranked second on the team with 47 blocks. He didn't attempt a single 3-pointer and only shot 26.8 percent from the free throw line.
Maybe Nebraska's biggest competition for Okeke was Clemson, which he visited before coming to Lincoln. He also had visits scheduled to Ball State and Stetson but canceled both after his commitment.
He is set to graduate in May and will be immediately eligible for the 2017-18 season.
Okeke’s addition fills a big need for the Huskers in the low post, as they lost two key pieces of their front court to offseason transfers in sophomore forwards Edward Morrow and Michael Jacobson.
"They told me they want me to be an energy guy and a power guy," Okeke said. "My strengths are my defense and rebounding, so just being a presence inside."
Nebraska now has two open scholarships remaining in its 2017 class. Princeton graduate transfer Hans Brase.
A 6-8, 231-pound forward missed all of 2015-16 to a knee injury, and then played just four games this past season after suffering another injury in the same knee.
Brace averaged 6.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists before his injury.
Prior to his injury woes, though, the native of Germany had a strong 2014-15 season when he averaged 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while starting 29- of 30 games.