NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing contenders for top-100 G Otega Oweh
Top-100 NCAA Basketball guard prospect Otega Oweh is set to make a decision soon. Which teams are in the mix to land him?
One of the top NCAA Basketball prospects from the east coast is Otega Oweh, a consensus four-star shooting guard in the 2022 recruiting class. 247sportsComposite has him at No. 73 overall and a rising star. The 6’4 athlete is an elite scorer and showed this Summer that he can be an elite defender as well.
As a strong top-100 two-way prospect, many power conference programs on the east coast have been after the Blairstown, New Jersey native. And throughout the Summer, Oweh has taken on several visits to teams that have reportedly been in the mix, including Miami, Penn State, Oklahoma, and Illinois. He also took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall at one point so the assumption is that they’re also in the running.
Without an official list of contenders, we can only assume that one of the programs Oweh has visited will be the eventual winner of his recruitment, with October 1st decision day. Here’s a closer look at what each of the five programs potentially involved has to offer.
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Illini may have some open spots in the frontcourt but not in the backcourt. Along with a trio of four-star freshmen guards already on the roster, they have commits from four-star point guard Jayden Epps and top-50 shooting guard Sencire Harris. Oweh could find himself a rotation spot but with the core of guards all young for Illinois, it wouldn’t be a guarantee at all.
Miami Hurricanes
There’s a very good chance that all three starting guards (Isaiah Wong, Charlie Moore, and Kameron McGusty) will be gone after next season. And although the team has four-star freshmen Nisine Poplar and Jakai Robinson in, there isn’t as much future depth onboard compared to Illinois. The only issue here is how long head coach Jim Larranaga will be around since he’s already over 70 years old, on a program that hasn’t finished over .500 overall in the past three years.
Oklahoma Sooners
After landing several grad transfers and returning seniors Elijah Harkless and Umoja Gibson, the Sooners will need to land multiple guards in the 2022 class. Only four-star freshman shooting guard CJ Noland is guaranteed to be on the roster, giving Oweh a clear path to playing time and a large role. He’d also fit well with new head coach Porter Moser’s system thanks to his two-way strengths.
Penn State Nittany Lions
Already with a top-10 current 2022 class, new head coach Micah Shrewsbury has been extremely busy adding talent, including four-star center Kebba Njie. However, Oweh could be not only the highest-ranked of this group but potentially the highest-rated ever in modern history according to 247sports. He’d have a starting position and could very well be e featured player on offense for this rebuilding program but would have to go through a lot of growing pains… and losses, in the Big Ten.
Seton Hall Pirates
The “local” option of the group, the Pirates needs to lock down on its hometown talent. But they have done well in the portal, landing American grad transfer Jamir Harris and Syracuse guard Kadary Richmond. With four-star guard Brandon Weston joining the team in the backcourt as well, the path to playing time isn’t as clear for Oweh unless Richmond goes pro sooner than later.
Next. Top 25 team backcourts for 2021-22 season. dark
Right now, Penn State is the rumored leader for Oweh, which would be huge for the program’s rebuilding efforts. This top-100 prospect likely will pick one of these five teams and have a future impact. We’ll find out his decision in just a few days.