Recruiting Report: Daniel Oturu to Minnesota
Four star 6-foot-9 junior center Daniel Oturu from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota announced his commitment to the University of Minnesota moments ago. Daniel Oturu is ranked 66th overall by Scout.com and is having another outstanding season…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingFour star 6-foot-9 junior center Daniel Oturu from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota announced his commitment to the University of Minnesota moments ago.
Daniel Oturu is ranked 66th overall by Scout.com and is having another outstanding season for the Raiders. Daniel is averaging 17.2 points, 18.3 rebounds, and five blocks a game this year as he’s one of the most active bigs you will see.
“Daniel is a big time talent who led the state in rebounding and blocked shots as a sophomore,” Cretin-Derham Hall Coach Jerry Kline Jr said. “He’s a highly recruited player with offers from some of the best schools.”
Otutu’s offer list included Kansas, Nebraska, Baylor, Memphis, Creighton, Minnesota, Providence, Northern Iowa, and Georgia Tech plus he was getting interest from schools all over the country.
Minnesota offered Daniel early this summer. Richard Pitino watched Daniel at the Peach Jam in early July and then became the first major conference program to extend to the 6-foot-9, 215 pounder who has a 7-foot-1 plus wingspan.
Oturu has been to multiple Gopher games this season, he was a guest of the team a couple times in the fall including a visit to a football game, and Oturu went by the campus for a couple summer visits plus his team was at Gopher Team Camp.
Simply put Daniel had seen everything he needed to see from Minnesota and liked everything about it.
Oturu has always spoke highly of the Golden Gopher Basketball program.
“My visits (with Minnesota) were good,” Oturu said to NHR previously. “The things that stood out to me was how the coaches were really happy to have me on campus and it just felt like I was wanted there, and it was good environment.
“When talking to Coach Pitino and assistant Ben Johnson, “We all kind of talked about how I could continue to grow as a player to separate myself from others.
“And that had a huge take on my mental side of things because I never thought about things like that so it was good for me to talk to both of them especially because they coach in the Big Ten.”
Oturu watched the Gophers practice both in the summer and in the fall.
“The first thing we did was watch part of the practice, some of the players had a team workout so we watched that. After that was when I met with Coach Pitino and Coach Johnson in Coach Pitino’s office. After the meeting and practice we went on a tour of the athletic area, and a tour of the student-athletics building.”
As a sophomore Daniel put up 16.8 points and 14.6 rebounds a contest shooting 64 percent from the floor on 11-12 shots a game. Oturu also blocked 5.8 shots a game with a couple steals and assists as well.
What Minnesota is getting in Daniel Oturu is a rapidly growing big who plays at a very active rate. He’s quick off his feet to finish, contest shots, block shots, and snatch boards.
Daniel has an extensive wingspan and a nice touch around the basket after a rapid shoulder turn. He has excellent lateral quickness for a player his size and Daniel’s length makes him a defensive pain from all angles. CDH has often used him at the top of their zone because of his length, activity, and lateral quickness.