Transfer Gus Okafor trusted a ‘gut feeling’ to pick Wichita State over SEC, Big East
Mississippi State and the SEC were calling. So was Georgetown and the Big East.
But in the end, Gus Okafor trusted his gut feeling after his official visit to Wichita State this past weekend. The Southeastern Louisiana forward committed three days after leaving Wichita, spurning his other two finalists to become a Shocker.
“It’s a little stressful because you got even more schools trying to call you and reach out, but I just had a gut feeling that Wichita was the place for me,” Okafor told The Eagle. “I feel like Wichita State is on the same level as (Mississippi State and Georgetown). That’s how I feel, at least.”
Okafor dabbled with the 2022 NBA Draft waters, but will use his final year of college eligibility at Wichita State. After proving himself at the junior college level and two successful years at Southeastern Louisiana, the 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward is excited about the challenge against better competition.
He led his team in scoring at 14.6 points per game on 42% shooting, including 51.1% finishing on 2-pointers and 32.6% accuracy behind the 3-point line on 5.6 attempts per game. He also excelled in drawing fouls and cashing in on those fouls, as he shot 80.7% from the foul line on 4.1 attempts per game. He also averaged 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
Despite being undersized, at 6-6, Okafor believes he can split time at small forward and power forward. His rebounding numbers at the lower levels have always translated to him being an above-average rebounder on both ends.
“Honestly, I’m just a basketball player,” said Okafor, who didn’t want to be boxed in by what position he might play at WSU. “When I’m on that floor, I can do a lot of things for my team.”
Okafor told The Eagle following his official visit that he was impressed by how genuine WSU head coach Isaac Brown came off in his first meeting. He reiterated how important that was in his decision on Wednesday.
“Wichita’s style of play really fits my game and I just felt like everything there was real genuine,” Okafor said. “I just felt really comfortable there and honestly, I knew I didn’t even have to take any other visits after that. I felt real confident with my decision.”
WSU will be the fourth and final stop of his 5-year career after playing his freshman year at Longwood, his sophomore year at Miami Dade College and the last two years at Southeastern Louisiana.
Okafor believes he will fit right in with his chip-on-the-shoulder approach to the game.
“Out of high school, I didn’t really have any D1 offers,” the Baltimore native said. “I always had that confidence in my head that I could compete with anybody, though. It was pretty cool to be getting high-major, power-5 looks, but it didn’t really matter the level to me. It mattered who was genuine.”
Okafor is the fourth player WSU has plucked from the NCAA transfer portal, as he joins Drexel guard Xavier Bell, Florida State center Quincy Ballard and Alabama center James Rojas. WSU also has a high school senior signed in its 2022 recruiting class in Jacob Wilson. The Shockers currently have up to four scholarship available left for their 2022-23 roster.
Okafor said he is finishing up school this semester at Southeastern Louisiana, then plans to head home to Baltimore for a few weeks before reporting to Wichita for summer workouts in June.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 4:08 PM.
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