Chris Obekpa to Transfer to UNLV
St. John’s transfer Chris Obekpa is headed to UNLV.
Injuries, flagrant fouls against Butler and against Fordham, transferring from St. John’s after his sophomore season only to change his mind two weeks later – all contributed to the image of Obekpa being a distraction, unreliable, and possibly unwilling to work to improve his game and mindset.
Obekpa will have to sit out the 2015-16 season due to the NCAA transfer rule but when he does play his senior year at UNLV in 2016-17 he will be joining a team that should be supremely talented. He averaged 5.8 points and 7.0 rebounds while also ranking fifth nationally in blocked shots at 3.1 per game.
“It was a great three years of growing here at St. John’s”.
For the upcoming season, it appears that Justin Jackson will now stay at Findlay Prep for one more season before coming over to UNLV.
Obekpa, a native of Nigeria listed at 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, was in Las Vegas on an official visit when he committed to UNLV. The forward could have reclassified into the current class, but Obekpa will likely be taking UNLV’s last scholarship.
Dave Rice gets a shot blocker, eligible in a year. Obekpa doesn’t have a spotless background, but once again Rice is willing to gamble that he can take a transfer with baggage and manage him into being a productive player on the court. Bryce Dejean-Jones came in with a reputation as a hot head, and left with that reputation intact after being suspended for the final game of the 2013-14 regular season following a locker-room incident.
Obekpa could fall into either category.