If you didn’t know Semi Ojeleye scored 50 points in a high school basketball game earlier this week, you need to pay closer attention. Seriously, it was all over the Internet.
But if this is the first you’re hearing about it, here’s the skinny: Ojeleye, a 6-foot-6 junior small forward out of Ottawa who is the brother of Kansas State senior Victor Ojeleye, hit eight three-pointers, made all 10 of his free throws and scored a career-high 50 points during a 103-70 win over Spring Hill.
“I started off the game making my first three or four shots,” Ojeleye said. “My teammates did a good job of finding me. We moved the ball really well. I got into a good rhythm and everything just came together for me.”
Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith was reportedly in attendance for Ojeleye’s big game, but college coaches everywhere heard about it. They were already paying attention. Ojeleye says he has scholarship offers from K-State, Wisconsin, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, Nebraska, Marquette and Missouri.
With more 50-point efforts, that list will surely grow. But he’s trying not to think about that at the moment.
“A lot of people have been telling me, ‘Good game’ lately,” Ojeleye said. “I’m just trying to stay humble, be positive and stay thankful.”
Ojeleye will try to maintain that easy-going attitude throughout the recruiting process. That might be difficult, considering he is in no rush to make a commitment. He says he plans on waiting until the early signing period (for the class of 2013) to make a decision.
When asked if he has a current favorite, he replied: “I can’t really say right now. I don’t really have a timetable for committing, so I don’t have a favorite.”
Three colleges appear to stick out, though. Wisconsin was the first to offer him last summer, and he has visited the Badgers’ campus. Missouri has shown lots of interest, and he was in attendance for the Tigers’ win over Texas Tech on Saturday. And he has visited K-State plenty of times to watch his brother play.
“I’ve been able to be around the guys and spend time with them at Kansas State,” Ojeleye said. “The relationship is there. We’re definitely pretty close.”
But his brother isn’t pushing him to follow in his footsteps. If that’s what he wants to do, great. But Victor was so lightly recruited out of high school that he attended prep school for a year before former K-State assistant Dalonte Hill took notice and invited him to join the Wildcats as a walk-on.
Ojeleye is in a totally different position. He is becoming a heavily recruited, four-star player.
He is good at several things, but describes his game in this way: “I try to get to the bucket and use my strength to get past people. A lot of big men have trouble staying with me on the perimeter. Then they’ll send guards at me and I just try to get past them with some quickness and some speed. Probably my biggest strength is my catch-and-shoot shot when somebody gets me a pass.”
Victor wants him to continue working on his game (he helps him by playing one-on-one every now and then) and to enjoy the recruiting process. He has been there to offer advice when needed.
“He’s told me just to stay humble and not let it go to my head and know where it’s all coming from,” Ojeleye said. “It’s coming from God. Victor is really guiding me through the mental aspect of it. As for the calls and stuff, I have to take those myself and I have to speak for myself, but he tells me how to handle it and what to say.
“Both of us, we want each other to succeed and we succeed together. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without him.”
By all accounts, it seems like Ojeleye will make an informed decision whenever he gets around to choosing where he wants to play basketball at the next level.
If he has any more 50-point games, he will have no shortage of choices.