WSU men’s team successfully lands commitment from Cal transfer ND Okafor.
The men’s basketball roster for Washington State is beginning to take shape for the next campaign.
The 6-foot-9 big ND Okafor, a Cal transfer who played for the Golden Bears for two seasons before suffering a season-ending injury at the start of last year, is the newest member of the Cougars. His move gives WSU’s new coach David Riley’s squad six offseason newcomers.
Before suffering an injury last season, Okafor played in nine games and performed admirably. As a true freshman, he averaged 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 30 games. In a victory against CSU Bakersfield, he pulled down seven rebounds and scored four points; in a defeat to UTEP, he finished with five points and five rebounds in nine minutes.
Like Isaac Jones, a graduating senior who was called up from the G League Elite Camp to the NBA draft combine on Sunday, Okafor gives the Cougars some height and physicality on the interior.
Irishman Okafor played at the NBA Academy in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, from 2020 to 22. He was ranked by ESPN as a four-star, top-75 recruit for the class of 2022.
Six players have committed to WSU for the upcoming season, including Eastern Washington transfers LeJuan Watts, Ethan Price, and Dane Erikstrup, Quinnipiac transfer Rihards Vavers, and Lapwai High standout Kase Wynott. This number does not include Okafor.
The 12 former Cougs who have entered the portal—guard Myles Rice (Indiana); wing Andrej Jakimovski (Colorado); centers Oscar Cluff (South Dakota State) and Rueben Chinyelu (Florida); guards Jabe Mullins (Montana State) and Dylan Darling (Idaho State); and wing Kymany Houinsou (Loyola Chicago)—are being used by Riley to help fill the void left by their departure.
Forwards Spencer Mahoney and AJ Rohosy, as well as rising senior wing Jaylen Wells, who was invited to the NBA draft combine last week, are among the former Cougs still listed on the platform.
Joseph Yesufu, a former guard for WSU who was sidelined for nearly the whole 2017 campaign due to a hip injury, declared his commitment to West Virginia on Sunday. He played six games for the Cougars, averaging 6.2 points and 2 rebounds. In his final year of eligibility, he will play for WVU under head coach Darian DeVries, a former Drake coach where Yesufu began his career.
AJ LaBeau, a former walk-on center for WSU, said on Saturday that he is also committed to Cornell, an Ivy League school. Last season, he was a redshirt.
Mahoney, who did not receive a scholarship at WSU the previous season, announced on social media that he had received offers from UCF and Cal. Although he did not play on the floor during his first season as a Cougar, coaches saw him as a developing stretch-four, a versatile shooter.
