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An entire article could be dedicated to the accolades Jahlil Okafor racked up as high school player. He even attended the same school as Michelle Obama in Chicago's West Side. Scout, ESPN and Rivals all pegged him as both the No. 1 center and top overall recruit.
Since joining the Duke Blue Devils this year, he hasn't disappointed one bit. Through his first 13 games of the season, he has posted averages of 19.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Perhaps most impressively, he is shooting the ball at over 68 percent from the field, good enough for second best in the nation. His only knock so far is his free throw shooting. Currently he's hitting about 57 percent of his attempts, but he has improved as of late. In Duke's recent win over Boston College, Okafor hit 14-of-17 shots from the charity stripe.
He's never been held to single digit scoring, and he's eclipsed 24 points in four of his last five games. Against Elon, he went for a Dwight Howard-esque 25 and 20 line. To put it simply, the Deacs are facing him just as he is rounding into form. They aren't going to be able to stop him, but they might be able to slow him down.
Against Wisconsin and Michigan State (the two best teams he's faced to date), he was solid, but certainly not spectacular. The Blue Devils dealt the Badgers their only loss so far this season, and Okafor went for 13 and 6 in that game while collecting four fouls. His shot selection was superb though, as he was 6-of-8 from the field.
The Deacs will be best served by limiting his offensive rebounding and disrupting his shot. They have to force him to score from the foul line and cannot allow any easy buckets to a player Jay Bilas just described as "the best freshman low-post player I've ever seen in the ACC."