St. John’s Obekpa Gets Blanket Release

ARLINGTON, Texas –– Transferring St. John’s big man Chris Obekpa received a blanket release from the school and is free to transfer to any school not in the Big East Conference, sources told SNY.tv Friday.

Baylor, Florida, Pittsburgh and Oregon are among the schools expected to be involved for Obekpa, who must sit out next season before being eligible in 2015-16.

SNY.tv first reported Thursday the news that Obekpa will transfer. He averaged 3.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 blocks this past season, but played just 2 minutes in St. John’s loss to Providence in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. He then played 11 minutes in the loss to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.

Obekpa will be highly sought after because of his shot-blocking abilities. He is projected as the No. 46 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, but now won’t be eligible until 2016.

Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.