Prospect Spotlight: Daniel Oturu
Minnesota committed top 40 big Daniel Oturu is ready for his senior season. The Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders have the talent to make a run at the title. Prep Hoops caught up with Oturu this week to discuss his senior year.
A year ago the Raiders made the state tournament and took the consolation crown defeating Lakeville North in the final game. A match-up of Gopher committed Daniel Oturu and now Wisconsin freshman Nathan Reuvers.
The Raiders return the top seven guys from their rotation including all five starters. CDH will enter the season rated number two behind the defending champion Apple Valley Eagles who also return the majority of their line-up (including point guard Tre Jones).
“I’m in the gym every day with my teammates,” Oturu explained. “We had a tough loss in the state tournament last year (lost to Apple Valley for the second time during the 16-17 season) but that is just fuel to our fire.
“We are in the gym every day and we know who is in our way. We are tasting that defeat from last year and having that in the back of our heads. That loss in my head and reliving that moment every day is fuel to my fire. It kind of makes me more angry, it makes more ready for this season to come.
“We are out to prove that we are the best team in state and we want to win the first state title at our school in 25 years.”
Oturu led the state last year in rebounding and blocked shots. But he also has a lot of help. Point guard Ryan Larson has several D2 scholarship options, junior guard Jaeden King has committed to Augustana, Jake Prince is one of the toughest players in the state, and Sy Chatman is looking at a handful of D1 options.
The talent is there so the goals are high.
“As a team that goal is to continue to grow and help all my teammates get better,” Oturu explained. “Personally I want to win Mr. Basketball and I feel like I can win Mr. Basketball. I feel like we could have an undefeated season and win the state title.”
Oturu is a player that we at Prep Hoops have been watching closely since we first saw him as a Stillwater eighth grader. He’s one of the most active bigs you will ever see and that shows in his putbacks, floor runs, shot blocking, defense, and rebounding.
We’ve also seen Daniel improve his low post game and face-up shooting touch in the past year. Oturu wants to improve that range.
“I’m working on improving my confidence in shooting the three ball,” Oturu stated. “Throughout this fall I’ve been working on it a lot. I’m shooting it pretty well but it’s something that I’m continuing to work on so I can add it to my game more.”
Daniel has been committed to Minnesota since last winter and he’s excited not only to play for his homestate in the future, but Daniel is excited to support his future team this winter.
“First off my thoughts and prayers go out to Eric Curry, that was a tough loss for the team but I think he will come back very strong.
“I feel like this year’s team will go far in the NCAA Tournament and have a really good season. I believe they can win the Big Ten. They coaches believe in their players and the players believe in their coaches. When you have a team that works that well good things can and will happen.
“The team has great pieces with a great point guard and great young scorers so, losing Eric was a big part but I also feel like that will be fuel to their fire. It will be fuel for them to play harder. Eric wouldn’t want them to feel bad for him, he would want them to come back and compete even harder.”
Daniel is a very open young man. He’s had the local media talking to him constantly for a couple seasons. But what’s something about Daniel that Gopher fans wouldn’t know?
“I like to read and I like to take photos. I took a photo class last year and I really liked it so I have stuck with it ever since.”
Oturu has not decided what he wants major in but’s something he is thinking a lot about, but Daniel said he is “indecisive”.