Nov. 10, 2016
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Chuma Okeke may have grown up in an era when "everybody gets a trophy," but when it comes to basketball, Auburn's next big man is decidedly old-school.
"I like straight talk," Okeke says. "I need to know what I need to do better next time and what I need to work on."
That mentality attracted Okeke, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Atlanta, to Bruce Pearl, Auburn's tell-it-like-it-is basketball coach.
"How the coaching staff all gets along together, and with the players," Okeke says. "I think Coach Pearl is a good coach and I think he'll push me and he won't beat around the bush. He'll tell me straight up what I need to work on and what I need to do.
"If I had a bad game, he won't say, `You had an alright game, but you can do better.' He'll tell me straight up."
Pearl doesn't expect Okeke to have many bad games.
"Chuma Okeke is a rare talent," Pearl says. "He wins without necessarily always having to have the basketball in his hands. He loves the game. He loves to train. He loves to play. He's a nightmare matchup for people because he can shoot the ball from the perimeter. He can put it on the floor. He can score for himself. He has a great future in professional basketball."
Okeke, who led Westlake High School to the Georgia 6A state championship last season, signed with Auburn on Wednesday.
"It was exciting. It was taking another step, a bigger step," he says. "It felt good because not too many people get to go to college for free."
Okeke, who is considering majoring in business, gave Auburn fans a preview of what to expect next season.
"They'll see me getting my teammates involved, getting them into the game," he says. "And me making good plays, scoring plays, hitting my mid-range shots, getting to the basket and drawing fouls."
Okeke joins fellow signees Austin Wiley and Davion Mitchell in Auburn's recruiting class, ranked No. 2 nationally.
"I'm sure that we all have the same goal," Okeke says. "We all want to make it to the tournament, and also get better as individuals to make people around us better. I think we're all on the same page."
Okeke, who is ranked as highly as 41st nationally, also draws high marks for his off-the-court conduct.
"I'm a good person," he says. "I'm a good teammate. I'll do anything to win and I'm easy to get along with."
📽 | Check out newly signed forward @chuma_okeke's highlights.
» https://t.co/wiY2Z0YefC#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/XCCuXWIJzI-- Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) November 9, 2016
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer