Against Davidson last Friday, freshman forward Isaac Okoro led Auburn in scoring with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a 2-of-3 mark from 3-point range, helping the Tigers secure a 76-66 win over the Wildcats at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Okoro followed that performance up with another heroic game on Tuesday against South Alabama. The freshman stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points including a game-winning basket with 1.3 seconds left in the game.
He also had a season-high six rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals in Auburn's 70-69 win over South Alabama.
It’s a small sample size but the freshman has played as advertised through Auburn’s first three games. Okoro is Auburn’s leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points on a team best 60.7% shooting from the field.
In the season opener against Georgia Southern, Okoro had 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Even before the season opener, the freshman showcased his skills by winning the Tipoff at Toomer’s dunk contest.
Head coach Bruce Pearl is not shocked by the fact that Okoro has made an immediate impact.
“It’s encouraging but not surprising,” Pearl said. “He’s got really good basketball IQ. He’s picked up on everything. It’s really fortunate that he was our most talented freshman who we thought could be our best freshman by virtue of who he was and where he was ranked and how good he was.”
In Auburn’s three games this season, Okoro has been the starter at small forward, and he’s logged the most minutes of any newcomer on the team.
Coming out of high school, Okoro was ranked as a 4-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was also ranked No. 36 on the 247Sports list of 2019 top basketball recruits.
The freshman forward played shooting guard in high school but is now playing at more of a small forward or power forward role — a role that, according to Pearl, has worked well.
“I’m playing him at two positions,” Pearl said. “He’s playing the 3 and 4. That’s really hard to do, and he is on it and all over it. He’s a really smart player. He’s been a great addition, and we’ve just got to continue to get more experience with him.”
The forward has kept busy this season with not only playing both the 3 and 4. Okoro is also second on the team in minutes with an average of 32 per game.
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