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Villanova Basketball Player Profile: Daniel Ochefu

Can Chef cook up some big points this season? (I'll show myself out)

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Hometown: Baltimore, MD
High School: Downingtown East
Height: 6'11"
Weight: 245

Follow @DanielOchefu23

Career Stats

SEASON TEAM G MIN FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% PTS AVG REB AST STL BLK TO
2013-14 Villanova 34 737 76 128 59.4 0 1 0.0 41 74 55.4 193 5.7 208 47 24 52 63
2012-13 Villanova 34 594 45 98 45.9 0 2 0.0 29 60 48.3 119 3.5 138 20 25 23 41
TOTAL
68 1331 121 226 53.5% 0 3 0.0 70 134 52.2 312 4.6 346 67 49 75 104


2013-14 Stats (Averages)

SEASON TEAM MIN FG% 3P% FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
2013-14 Villanova 21.7 59.4 0.0 55.4 6.1 1.4 1.5 0.7 2.8 1.9 5.7

Player Preview

Ochefu was recruited as the 54th best player in the country based on ESPNU's Top 100, however in the land of Guard U it's hard to fulfill that big-man potential. Last season he saw his starts increase from 11 to 32 games, and we saw a bit more of what Daniel can do.

Most notably, his FG% spiked to a ridiculous 59.4% which was one of the best in the conference. His minutes per game only increased by 4.2 but his rebounds increased by two a game and blocks doubled. Thankfully, even with this increase in playing time, his 3PA actually decreased from two per season down to one (which is still a tad high).

The negative that came with the jump in court time was the jump in turnovers and fouls. There were a numerous occasions where Chef would pick up two quick fouls to start a game, having to sit on the bench for most of the first half. If that happens this year, JayVaughn Pinkston will see extended playing time or Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds will have to fill the temporary gap. Another thing that should improve (hopefully) is Ochefu's FT%. It increased from 48.3% to 55.4%, but surpassing the 65% clip is ideal no matter how often he goes to the line.

Best Case: Daniel cuts down on personal fouls and thus receives another boost in minutes per game. While being a defensive presence, Ochefu thrives on his post game and can approach double digit scoring regularly. With more experience ball handling, his turnovers take a dip.

Worst Case: 2013-2014 foul-happy Chef returns to the court and Coach Wright loses patience. Jay decides to go with a younger face at power forward and Ochefu sees his minutes per game drop below the 20.0 mark. The inconsistent playing time equates to a spike in turnovers and reduced FG%.

The Wisdom of Crowds Returns

Ed's Wisdom of Crowds experiment is back for the 2014-15 season. Following each of our previews we will be sampling the VUHoops community on the projected performances of the Villanova roster for the upcoming season.