When Smith called, Brewster Academy coach Jason Smith informed his longtime friend that Elijah Crawford would not be coming to Stanford because he didn’t feel comfortable playing for a staff with whom he wasn’t familiar. Then, veering off topic unexpectedly, the Brewster coach mentioned to Smith, “But I’ve got another guy who might be of interest to you …”
That was Smith’s introduction to Ebuka Okorie, an absolute blur of a guard who could turn out to be one of the steals of college basketball’s stacked freshman class. A little over a week into the 2025-26 season, Okorie is averaging the third-most points of any Division I player and is starting to draw interest from NBA evaluators.
Okorie offered a glimpse of his quickness off the dribble when he scored 17 points in Stanford’s Oct. 30 exhibition victory over Oregon. The dynamic 6-foot-2 playmaker then unleashed his full arsenal, tallying 26 points in a season-opening rout of Portland State on Nov. 4 and dropping 29 points on Montana four nights later.
The competition will get tougher as ACC play approaches, but Smith suspects Okorie is up to the challenge. As the Stanford coach told Yahoo Sports this week, “It’s one thing if you’re producing against mid-majors and you’re a mid-major athlete. He’s not. I think he has the speed and length to be able to swim with the sharks.”
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