Obekpa Blocks His Way to History

Obekpa with a rejection

The St. John's record for blocks in a season was set during the 1985-86 campaign by Walter Berry; recording 76 swats in 36 games (an average of 2.1 per).  Berry went on to win the Big East Player of the Year and the John Wooden Awards that season as he also averaged 23 points and 11.1 rebounds per game en route to leading the Johnnies to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

That record lasted 27 seasons, as it has now been broken a mere 16 games into the 2012-13 season by shot-blocking sensation Chris Obekpa. 

Obekpa (6 foot 9) has already accumulated 82 blocks in the young season, averaging 5.1 per game. 

What does that suggest?  Well that St. John’s has never even had a whiff of a true shot blocker, and that Obekpa is really good at the art of rejection. 

 Plenty of schools lined up to land the rim protector, but the 78th ranked recruit and 16th ranked center in the 2012 class by ESPN was snagged by Coach Lavin.

“He is as gifted as anybody I have ever seen in terms of blocking shots,” Lavin said.  “With his timing, he is a game-changer.  As a coach, you have to think about what you’re going to do against a specialist like that.”  These statements were made by Lavin during the summer.   He has got to be pleased to see his expectations come to fruition.

A freshman, Obekpa has played in all 16 games and has recorded multiple blocks in every game except one, a one block performance against Charleston in the second game of the season. 

While his offensive fundamentals are a bit raw, they continue to improve.  However, that was no surprise entering the season.   The book on the incoming freshman was that while he is a bit challenged offensively, he is a high-energy, long, versatile and athletic big man, with incredible instincts. 

This is exactly what has played out in the stat book thus far, as Obekpa has more games with double digit blocks than double digit points; 1 to 0.  He put on a spectacle December 8^th, blocking a whopping 11 shots versus Fordham.   

He not only leads the Big East in total blocks and blocks per game, but he tops both lists in the country.

The Big East record for blocks in a season is currently held by Alonzo Mourning.  Mourning finished with 169 blocks in 34 games during his 1988-89 season at Georgetown.

St. John’s currently has 14 regular season games remaining plus at least one Big East Tournament game.  With what we know and given Obekpa’s averages so far he is on pace to finish with 158 blocks in 31 games.

That currently comes up short of Mourning’s mark, but Alonzo compiled that total with three more games played.  The Johnnies have the potential to win one or more Big East Tournament games and they could very well earn a berth into a post-season tournament. 

Given that - Mourning’s record could be next in line to be swatted by ‘Oblockpa ‘.

[David Robinson has the all-time record for blocks in a season with 207.  He accomplished that in 35 games played and averaged 5.91 per contest.]

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac