STARKVILLE — You’ll have to excuse Chinwe Okorie’s confusion.
Even though she is a senior, the Mississippi State center has been playing basketball for only four years, so she is still getting used to all of the festivities that follow games and tournaments.
That’s why the 6-foot-5 post player paused for a moment Sunday after she heard her name announced following Mississippi State’s 66-41 victory against Hawaii at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown. Okorie wasn’t in trouble. She just didn’t know her play in the three-day event had earned her a place on the all-tournament team.
“My teammates were like, ‘Go on Chi-Chi.’ I didn’t know where to go,” Okorie said Wednesday. “They told me to go to the court so I could get my trophy. I jogged out and it was just unbelievable.”
Okorie’s efforts in earning the first all-tournament team award of her career helped MSU beat Oregon, San Jose State, and Hawaii last weekend to run its record to 7-0. The victories helped the Bulldogs climb to a program-record No. 6 in The Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls.
Okorie’s play has been instrumental in helping MSU record its highest shooting percentage through seven games in coach Vic Schaefer’s five seasons in Starkville. Okorie’s 54.2-percent shooting percentage is third on the team among players who are averaging nine or more minutes per game. As a result, MSU is shooting 47.6 percent from the field, which is 2.6 percent better than the 45 percent the team shot when it also started the 2013-14 season with a 7-0 record.
Okorie and MSU will try to extend their winning streak at 1:30 p.m. Saturday when they face Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Regional Network.
Schaefer joked Wednesday you would need a GPS to determine how much progress Okorie has made from her freshman season to this season.
“It’s happened because she works hard,” Schaefer said of the former Stoneleigh-Burnham (Mass.) Prep product. “She has a work ethic that is second to none. I think she is in the best shape of her life and of her career. She doesn’t complain. The kid is going to graduate with a double major in business. That says it all about her work ethic, focus, and commitment. This has happened because she has allowed us to coach her, and she wants it.
“That’s the biggest piece in coaching. You have to have kids that want it, and you have to have coaches that can develop it. The big thing in our success is recruiting, retention, and development. This is a prime example of a young lady that we have been able to really work with. She has allowed us to coach her and demand of her, yet she holds herself accountable in the same way we do. It has allowed her to be successful. It’s really rewarding as a coach to see a player develop like Chinwe has.”
Okorie’s 9.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game are the highest averages of her career. After sitting out her freshman year due to NCAA initial eligibility rules, Okorie has improved her scoring nearly three points every season. Her shooting percentage has improved more than 10 points from 42.6 percent as a sophomore thanks to repetition and confidence.
Despite the improvements, Okorie said she was surprised she was named to the all-tournament team, even after scoring 18 points (on 8-of-10 shooting) and grabbing seven rebounds in 23 minutes against Hawaii. She celebrated the occasion by calling her family back home in Lagos, Nigeria, and sharing the news.
“My mom was crying,” Okorie said. “I told her not to cry. She was just really excited for me. She said she was going to continue to pray for all of us. She was just so excited.”
MSU junior guard Morgan William is equally excited for Okorie. William smiled when asked about Okorie’s improvement and said she has come a long way because she admitted she was scared to the throw the ball to the Bulldogs’ centers as a freshman. She said she has developed that trust in Okorie and sophomore Teaira McCowan and knows good things are going to happen when they get the basketball close to the rim.
“I’m so proud of Chinwe (Okorie). She was named to the all-tournament team, and she started crying,” William said. “I asked her why she was crying, and I told her she worked so hard for this and to be happy. She has come a long way. Her hard work has paid off. She has gotten better. I know when I pass her the ball I’m getting two points and an assist. I’m a point guard, so on my favorite plays I’m getting it to her. I can count on Chinwe. She is just someone I can depend on to make the bucket.”
Okorie said she will strive to keep improving. It is unclear if she will opt to remain at MSU for a fifth season to re-gain the year of eligibility she lost as a freshman, but she said she is going to keep learning and pushing herself to become the best she can be.
“I think in the long run it boils down to not wanting to let my team, my coach, and myself down,” Okorie said. “It is just about trying to work hard and listen to my teammates and coaches.”
n In related news, juniors Victoria Vivians and Morgan William were named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday. The duo was named to the top 50 list after pacing MSU to a 7-0 start and No. 6 national ranking in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. … Junior guard Blair Schaefer was nominated Wednesday for the Allstate WBCA/NABC Good Works Team. Schaefer is one of a record 278 nominees for the award, which honors outstanding community service and leadership. … Coach Schaefer will join former MSU football coach Jackie Sherrill and former NFL great Tony Dorsett at the Brain Injury Association of Mississippi’s Salute to Our Heroes from 6-9 tonight at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson. The event, which also will feature Schaefer’s son, Logan, playing the guitar, will include a silent auction for sports memorabilia. Tickets to the event are $100. For more information, call 601-981-1021.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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