It appeared to most that Missouri's roster was set for the 2019-20 season. Not so fast. Northwest (WY) College 7-footer Axel Okongo tweeted on Monday that he had committed to the Tigers. Okongo will occupy the team's 13th and final scholarship for the 2019-20 season.
Okongo is a native of Saacy-sur-maame, France. He played the last years for Northwest College in Wyoming. Accoring to the NJCAA website, he averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in a little more than six minutes per game for the Trappers a year ago. He has two years of eligibility remaining and has already used his redshirt season
Even though Okongo didn't make a huge statistical impact in junior college, Dawud Abdur Rahkman, who coached Okongo at Northwest last season and now coaches at the SPIRE academy in Ohio, expressed confidence the big man will be productive at the high-major level.
"You get this kid in, you work with him, he’s going to turn out to be pretty good," Abdur Rahkman said. "You can mark my words on that."
Abdur Rahkman described Okongo as an "afterthought" entering his sophomore season at Northwest. He said the forward lacked confidence, and when he struggled early in his junior college career,his belief dipped further. However, Abdur Rahkman said Okongo eventually got to the point where he was able to play 16 to 18 minutes most game and make an impact, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
Abdur Rahkman described Okongo as "an energy guy." In fact, when Abdur Rahkman arrived at Northwest last October, he said Okongo's energy level was working against him — the big man couldn't stay on the floor without fouling.
"Early on it was difficult for him to maintain a presence on the floor without being in foul trouble," Abdur Rahkman explained. "But as we moved along in the season he got better and better and better and to a point to where I was able to play him and to where he was able to be a force and an impact in the game and not foul out."
Abdur Rahkman said Okongo's offensive skillset also improved as last season progressed. He didn't know exactly when Okongo started playing organized basketball, but he described him as raw compared to his peers. However, Abdur Rahkman said Okongo possesses natural strength and athleticism that, coupled with his size, allowed him to develop effective post moves.
"He’s got some natural ability, some skill," Abdur Rahkman said. "He just needs to be worked with."
Abdur Rahkman raved about Okongo's offseason work ethic, saying he took advantage of every opportunity to work one-on-one with the coaching staff and attended several showcase events following the end of the season. He believes the Missouri staff first saw Okongo at one of those showcases. As a result of his work ethic, Abdur Rahkman believes Okongo should benefit rapidly from the round-the-clock resources available at Missouri.
Overall, Abdur Rahkman said he believes Okongo needs a few months to develop, but if he gets to campus in the coming days and starts working out with the team, he could be ready to play a regular role by the beginning of conference play.
"I can see him ending up being a very, very dominant player," Abdur Rahkman said. "Especially at that level where he’s going to get full attention, he’s going to get a lot of extra work and there’s going to be people there and they have the resources in order to make that happen. I just think he hadn’t had that."
