An article in Monday’s Daily misreported Jason Okrzesik’s postseason accomplishments in high school. The furthest his team advanced in the state tournament was the sectional semifinals in Okrzesik’s senior year.
The Daily regrets the error.
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After the completion of paperwork, Northwestern might be getting its fourth transfer in three years, a point guard from Rice who averaged 0.8 points and 1.8 assists this past season.
Jason Okrzesik, a 6-foot-1 former Illinois Mr. Basketball Candidate and McDonald’s All-America nominee, said NU coaches have told him he has been accepted onto the team. The final step is to fax some forms, which he said he will do today.
After that, Okrzesik will wait to hear from the NU admissions office.
“I’m looking forward to (coming to NU),” said Okrzesik, who lives in Wood Dale, Ill. “It’s a great program with great players and coaches, and it’s close to home.”
Okrzesik said he is leaving Rice because he wasn’t happy with his playing time. The sophomore, who was supposed to compete for a starting spot before the season, averaged just 7.5 minutes a game.
“The coaches and I have a good relationship, but playing time was an issue,” Okrzesik said. “I didn’t get to play as much as I thought I would. I played, but I just thought I would get more time elsewhere.”
Okrzesik said NU coaches have not offered him a scholarship — he will be paying his own way next year — but they have guaranteed him as a spot as a walk-on for the 2006-07 season.
Because of NCAA guidelines, Okrzesik will not be eligible until that year, when he will have junior standing.
According to Mike Mahoney, spokesman for NU’s men’s basketball team, NCAA rules prohibit NU coaches from commenting on a transfer before it becomes official.
NU recruited Okrzesik when he was a senior in high school. He was a three-time all-league selection at Fenwick, where he led his team to back-to-back state titles and was nominated as the state’s top player his senior year.
Okrzesik said he chose Rice over NU (and Ball State, St. Louis and Western Michigan) because he was impressed with the Houston school after his initial visit.
He committed without visiting anywhere else, a decision he said he wished he could take back.
“I think I would probably have chosen to go (to NU if I would have visited), but that is something I’ll never know,” Okrzesik said.
If Okrzesik’s transfer becomes official, he will be the fourth player to transfer to play basketball at NU in the last three years, joining Tim Doyle from St. John’s, Mike Thompson from Duke and Bernard Cot� from Kentucky.
Okrzesik said he grew up rooting for Chicago-area schools, calling himself a fan of Wildcats basketball. In junior high school, he even attended an NU basketball camp run by former head coach Kevin O’Neill.
Okrzesik, currently home in Wood Dale for the summer, visited Welsh-Ryan Arena last week to play pick-up basketball with current NU players.
NU forward Vedran Vukusic said Okrzesik is “a solid point guard” who made very few mistakes the two times they played together.
“He does everything pretty well,” Vukusic said. “For a point guard, he can take care of the ball, which is the most important part. He sees the court well. I think he would be a good addition to our team.
“It’s hard to tell (if he’ll fit in) — it depends on how fast he learns. A point guard has to learn every single play to start the offense, so it’s hard to tell until — if — he comes to start practicing.”
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
