Beckley Prep’s James Okonkwo is WVU Basketball’s First 2023 Commit

James Okonkwo is the first member of the 2023 recruiting class for West Virginia, announcing his commitment on Twitter Thursday afternoon.

https://t.co/oxF7abVCdE 🔵🟡 pic.twitter.com/nlb7Qnwkky

— James Okonkwo (@JamesOkonkwo13) June 24, 2021

Okonkwo (6-foot-9, 230 pounds) plays at Beckley Prep in Beckley, WV but is originally from the United Kingdom. Rivals rates him as a four-star recruit and a top-100 prospect in the 2023 class. In his announcement, Okonkwo thanks WVU coach Bob Huggins and assistant Ron Everhart for recruiting him.

A highlight video from April shows Okonkwo as a capable interior offensive threat, making several dunks over smaller competition and also taking a few jumpshots.

Okonkwo is WVU’s first commit in the 2023 recruiting class and continues a string of highly-rated big men Huggins has recruited in recent years, including Derek Culver, Oscar Tshiebwe and Isaiah Cottrell. He is also the latest in a line of prospects Huggins has recruited from in-state, including Cottrell (Huntington Prep), Jalen Bridges (Fairmont Sr.), Jay Moore (Beckley Prep), Seny Ndaiye (Huntington Prep) and Josiah Davis (Teays Valley).