Center of attention

By Lynn Worthy, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.

Nov. 11--STORRS, Conn. -- Everyone in local basketball circles already knows about him. Now, the rest of the nation is about to get to know the A-Train.

The University of Connecticut men's basketball team opens its season on Friday night with freshman Alex Oriakhi set to step into a long line of talented big man to start at center for the Huskies.

The 6-foot-9, 240 pound Lowell resident made it through the preseason as the top center for a UConn team coming off a 31-5 season and an appearance in the Final Four. The Huskies enter this season ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press national poll.

"I'm a freshman so the experience has been great for me," Oriakhi said Sunday following the Huskies' exhibition game against UMass Lowell. "Just the atmosphere of finally being a college basketball player. I've been waiting since I was 16 for this. So I'm just really happy and excited to get the season started."

Last year, Oriakhi helped lead the Tilton School to the prep national championship with a 29-2 record. He scored 14.4 points per game, grabbed 11 rebounds per game, and blocked 2.7 shots per contest while shooting 54.2 percent from the field.

Along the way, he racked up a myriad of accolades, including Tilton School co-MVP (2008 and 2009) and 2009 New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year honors. He was also selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game this past year.

He had a spectacular AAU career with the Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC), winning the 2006 15-and-under national championship.

Of course, UConn is another level. He's now playing against grown men on a national stage. He seems to have handled the transition about as flawlessly as can be expected from a freshman.

"I was a little bit anxious," the 19-year-old said of his first college practice. "I asked some of the older guys how practice would be. You know, they tell you and I actually got to see it, but you don't know until you experience it. The first practice was one of the hardest things I went through. It was a lot of running. It went for about three and a half hours. It was tough, but you get used to it as time goes along."

Oriakhi dedicated a lot of time this past summer to getting in shape. He spent about a month in Storrs at UConn's basketball camp. When he was home, Oriakhi could often be found working out with his cousin and UMass Lowell forward Kingsley Onyechi. Since arriving in Storrs, he has also makes it a point to spend extra time with the strength and conditioning coach.

Onyechi got to see first-hand how far his cousin has come as the two battled in the low post on Sunday at Gampel Pavilion.

"He's made serious leaps and bounds as a basketball player, so it's good to see him playing at this level and actually playing against me," Onyechi said. "I used to push him around as a little kid, but now it's a little different (chuckling). He's about 6-9, 250 so it's a little different now. He's really grown."

Oriakhi also appears to have won over UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

"He obviously is built and ready for this level even though I'm sure there a few nights he might struggle," Calhoun said. "But he can rebound. He can defend the post, and if we get him the ball a few more opportunities, he can score."

Calhoun even went so far as to bring up the name of former National Player of the Year Emeka Okafor when talking about how impressive his freshman center has been.

Oriakhi started both of the Huskies' exhibition games, grabbing 16 rebounds and scoring 16 points against American International College to go with nine points and 14 rebounds against UMass Lowell.

"We've got a really good young player inside, a really good young player," Calhoun said. "I just think back to Emeka and some of the other really good young players we've had inside. He's physically ready. He plays unlike so many freshmen, which is really good. He's had 30 rebounds in two games. You've still got to get those rebounds. And he had a very impressive alley-oop."

Now Oriakhi's has to do it against the big boys.

"Now the question would be, 'Can he do that against Kentucky? My impression would be, yeah, he can," Calhoun said. "It may not be 30 (points). They may not be 16 (points) and 14 (rebounds). They may be 10 or 11, but he still can rebound against most anybody. He's strong and willing to go after it."

Oriakhi takes up the mantle most recently left behind by power forward Jeff Adrien and center Hasheem Thabeet.

Adrien graduated as a 1,000-point scorer and the program's second-leading rebounder. Thabeet, an All-American selected second overall in the NBA Draft, earned two consecutive Big East Player of the Year awards, the 2009 co-Big East Player of the Year and the 2009 National Defensive Player of the Year awards in his three seasons at UConn.

"I didn't feel I had to live up to what they did," Oriakhi said. "They were great players, but I just feel I had to play my game and the best would turn out for the team. Just rebound, block shots, and score when I'm open."

So far, Oriakhi attained his first goal of starting for UConn as a freshman (though he insists he needs to work every day to keep that spot). He also wants to average a double-double.

He knows rebounding is going to be where he makes his mark, and he's embraced that. He's even become fond of one of Calhoun's most grueling drills.

"He throws it up and it's basically a fight," Oriakhi said. "You could do whatever, basically anything to go get the ball. You've got to get three stops. And if you don't get three stops, it's very tiring.

"That's my favorite drill because it's rebounding. I feel that that's the best part of my game. I feel that I'm the best rebounder on the team. That's what coach Calhoun said we needed, a rebounder. So I feel like I can fill that role."

Onyechi, a graduate student and first-year member of the basketball team at UMass Lowell, believes Oriakhi's abilities will shine even more with the team he has at UConn.

"He's always been a really tough-nosed kid," Onyechi said. "Very strong. Plays hard. Rebounds. You guys (Connecticut media) don't know he can shoot. He can shoot the ball. Calhoun won't let him shoot, but he can shoot the ball. The team he's around right now, it's really magnifying his game, and I'm really, really happy for him."

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