Dominant.
That’s the adjective players and coaches alike have used to describe Jahlil Okafor. For the freshman center, living up to that billing is one of three items on his season checklist.
“[The] team goal is definitely a national championship and an ACC championship,” Okafor said. “[Individually, my goal is] being the most dominant player in college basketball.”
Showered with preseason accolades—AP Player of the Year, AP First Team All-American, ACC Rookie of the Year, first team All-ACC to name a few—the hype surrounding the nation’s top-ranked recruit has only continued to grow as the regular season draws nearer.
Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood, the engines that made last year’s team go, could take over games, but needed the ball in their hands to do so. Okafor—a post-up threat that the Blue Devils lacked a season ago—can influence a game without having to create his own shot.
“There are not many guys like him, when you put together the size, the skill set, the agility,” associate head coach Jeff Capel said. “He has a chance to be dominant. And we need him to be dominant.”
Okafor enters the season with a dangerous arsenal of post moves and incredibly nimble footwork for someone of his size and age. After some prompting from senior captain Quinn Cook, he’s taken on a more vocal role, particularly on the defensive end.
Because of the multitude of ways Okafor can score—a reliable bank shot, a baby hook and a flurry of back-to-the-basket moves—and his defensive presence, Cook compared him to one of his former teammates.
“He reminds me of Mason [Plumlee] just by his presence and dominance on the court. Mason was always talking on defense, altering shots, not just scoring, all the little things,” Cook said. “That’s what [Okafor] has already at a young age. When he gets the ball, he’s probably the most talented player in the country.”
Capel has coached two assertive big men in Plumlee and former Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin, and although Okafor doesn’t pattern his game after either player, he said Capel gives him the same message he gave them: Dominate.
To do that, he’ll still need to get acclimated to the bruising nature of life as a college center, something head coach Mike Krzyzewski said will take time.
“As a big guy, it’s really hard to adjust from high school to college because if [Okafor] was physical in high school, he would foul out of every game,” Krzyzewski said. “A big guy has to learn [that] you can be really physical [at this level].... Playing against Marshall [Plumlee] helps, but we’re going to have to play games.”
An overlooked aspect of the Chicago native’s game is his unselfishness. Classmate Tyus Jones has drawn widespread praise for his court vision, but Okafor is a willing passer, a skill he said he developed in high school as he ran into consistent double- and triple-teams.
College defenses will undoubtedly collapse to help guard the 6-foot-11 big man as well, meaning Okafor’s teammates will reap the rewards of less attention out on the perimeter.
“You talk about him coming in and he’s the best player in the country, but he’s also one of the best passers out of the post that I’ve ever seen,” freshman Grayson Allen said. “That just really helps the flow and the chemistry, and the more we play with each other, the more we know where each other [are] going to be.”
On the defensive end, Okafor should help shore up a Blue Devil defense that lacked a rim protector late in games last season. Five of Duke’s nine losses last year were second-half collapses caused by cold perimeter shooting and porous defense. With Okafor commanding the paint, the Blue Devils will be able to both pound the ball inside for high-percentage shots on offense and force opponents to beat them from the outside on defense .
His size alone may be a deterrent for ball-handlers entering the paint, but Okafor has been hard at work during the preseason working on improving his positioning to defend the post and communicating on defense. It’s here that working against Plumlee every day in practice will help the freshman most.
“In high school I never had anyone my size to come in and play against—ever,” Okafor said. “In high school I rarely had to defend the post, because everyone was so much smaller than I was, so [I’m working on] little techniques.... In high school I didn’t have to talk as much, I just relied on being big and able to get to certain positions. Here I have to be vocal, always communicating with my teammates.”
Okafor’s impact defensively is not limited to his command of the paint. Cook said the security provided by the freshman as the final line of defense will enable the Blue Devil guards to apply more pressure on the ball and be more aggressive in jumping into passing lanes.
Surrounded by high-level talent, a dominant Okafor would put himself—and the Blue Devils—in good shape to revisit his other goals for the season. The postseason awards may come, but they’re not what really matters to the freshman.
“When I chose Duke University, it was so that I could accomplish a goal that I had in mind, and that’s winning a national championship,” Okafor said.
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