Joshua Ola-Joseph to play for AZ Compass for his senior season

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Good to see Josh play well. I believe he was averaging like 4pts and 3rbs going in to this week...and now we have a fan wondering if he'll ask out of his LOI!

I saw him play one game with his previous prep school and my initial perception of him was a guy who plays as an undersized 4. He'd be a good fit with like a Winter (class of 23) type or Battle (current) playing the other forward spot. Josh could guard the better wing/forward on the oppostion and do a lot of the little things on both ends of the floor. Of course you have to want to play that role as it's not glamorous. If he could become Travaurs Bennett in a couple years that would be a great result!
 

paulser21 said:
If I remember correctly, these prep schools offer a ton more for athletes to improve themselves than what a high school would typically offer. Strength and conditioning, nutrition classes, film study, almost unlimited access to the gym….
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It’s immersive and a great bridge for college hoops. he also has to be mature enough to handle moving halfway across the country, missing his senior year and leaving family snd friends. Of course, just like anything else on life, a fit for one is not a fit for all

will be interesting to see if his going there helps our team’s profile as well.
 

maybe a year away at prep school is an alternative to 4-5 years away for college. Gets to get out of the cities for a year and experience something different.
 

EG#9 said:
Good to see Josh play well. I believe he was averaging like 4pts and 3rbs going in to this week...and now we have a fan wondering if he'll ask out of his LOI!

I saw him play one game with his previous prep school and my initial perception of him was a guy who plays as an undersized 4. He'd be a good fit with like a Winter (class of 23) type or Battle (current) playing the other forward spot. Josh could guard the better wing/forward on the oppostion and do a lot of the little things on both ends of the floor. Of course you have to want to play that role as it's not glamorous. If he could become Travaurs Bennett in a couple years that would be a great result!
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To be clear, I’m not at all concerned about JOJ’s real estate acquisition pipeline.

I also had no idea what his stat line was. Just confused about the prep school decision which has been resolved.
 

topos said:
To be clear, I’m not at all concerned about JOJ’s real estate acquisition pipeline.

I also had no idea what his stat line was. Just confused about the prep school decision which has been resolved.
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Well, Both Gach attended that prep school also and there was never any issues with him trans....oh wait...
(Just joking)
 


paulser21 said:
If I remember correctly, these prep schools offer a ton more for athletes to improve themselves than what a high school would typically offer. Strength and conditioning, nutrition classes, film study, almost unlimited access to the gym….
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The stuff is available to high school kids too, just gotta know how and where to access it. Some of course cannot access it.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
He’s playing against better players daily. That’s the only guarantee being at a prep at the level of compass. He would get coached just as well at Osseo basketball wise cause their coach and their conference is very good. I’m mostly anti prep school for most kids though if they are from MN
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I would rather have him up against a 6’8 3 star player than a 6’3 suburban white dude. He gets a lot more out of the prep route.
 


PeterMac05 said:
I would rather have him up against a 6’8 3 star player than a 6’3 suburban white dude. He gets a lot more out of the prep route.
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It really depends. Some of the play and coaching at the prep level is awful. Compass has a good rep though and travels nationally. I just don’t believe he’s getting a ton more out of his prep schedule than what he would’ve gotten at Osseo. He would’ve gotten Park Center twice, Wayzata, Edina, Maple Grove twice, and Totino. Those games alone will be against high level athletes. They may not be 3 star basketball players, but they aren’t terrible. Like I said earlier, going against other Compass players in practice can’t be replicated. I’m not sold on it being that much better for JOJ. I’m sold on him improving because of his work ethic.
 



PeterMac05 said:
I would rather have him up against a 6’8 3 star player than a 6’3 suburban white dude. He gets a lot more out of the prep route.
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Some pretty good basketball players played against those same types of "suburban white dudes" and developed into really good players. MN HS basketball is pretty strong right now.
 

PeterMac05 said:
I would rather have him up against a 6’8 3 star player than a 6’3 suburban white dude. He gets a lot more out of the prep route.
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So if you're white you're a bad basketball player? Let's try to keep stereotypes out of here.
 

PeterMac05 said:
I would rather have him up against a 6’8 3 star player than a 6’3 suburban white dude. He gets a lot more out of the prep route.
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It is unfortunate that you threw the word white into your comment, because that is distracting from your point.

Obviously, you will get better if you play, practice and compete against better players. It is the whole premise of playing AAU and select teams. It happens all the time in hockey where top players go to the juniors. I dislike the fact that it ends the kids “high school” experience.

Wasn’t JOJ kind of a late bloomer? It would make sense for him to build up his game as much as he can before coming to the U.
 

Word said:
So if you're white you're a bad basketball player? Let's try to keep stereotypes out of here.
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I hope that wasn’t the main point of his comment.

How many 6’3” best players on a suburban team actually go on to play D1? Very, very few. It is different playing on a team with mostly D1 players that plays several games against teams that are mostly D1 players. I think that was his point.
 



alchemy2u said:
I hope that wasn’t the main point of his comment.

How many 6’3” best players on a suburban team actually go on to play D1? Very, very few. It is different playing on a team with mostly D1 players that plays several games against teams that are mostly D1 players. I think that was his point.
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Totally agree with what you're saying. Don't think the fact that someone is white makes them a bad basketball player though, which is what the other post implied.
 

PeterMac05 said:
I would rather have him up against a 6’8 3 star player than a 6’3 suburban white dude. He gets a lot more out of the prep route.
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I think there are many factors, coaching was probably better at Osseo than the prep school, he gets to play against better players at the prep school and there is more of a focus on basketball, some will take advantage of that others do not, it didn't help Illikainen, not sure how much Thompson benefited from it, maybe Ola-Joseph will.

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Gopher_In_NYC said:
It’s immersive and a great bridge for college hoops. he also has to be mature enough to handle moving halfway across the country, missing his senior year and leaving family snd friends. Of course, just like anything else on life, a fit for one is not a fit for all

will be interesting to see if his going there helps our team’s profile as well.
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This is what I was thinking……if he becomes a Gopher regular, it would be awesome to start a pipeline with that program…..
 



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