Olivia Nelson-Ododa brings infinite potential and unique personality to UConn

[Plebe]

Women’s Basketball: Olivia Nelson-Ododa brings infinite potential and unique personality to UConn

Nelson-Ododa is the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-5 and the Huskies will need her to step up as the season progresses. Auriemma said that she plays a pivotal role on the UConn bench, and she proved against a top-notch opponent in Notre Dame. The freshman played 16 valuable minutes consisting of five points, five rebounds and a thunderous block on Marina Mabrey.​

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“We need Olivia to get really good,” Auriemma said. “So, the more minutes that she spends on the court, the more things that she gets herself involved in, the better we are going to be down the road. She gives us a dimension that obviously we don’t have.”​

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Nelson-Ododa could have picked to attend Florida State, Duke or her home-town school Georgia where she had season tickets as a child. However, she chose UConn for one particular reason.​

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“It’s the culture that’s here,” Nelson-Ododa said. “Definitely the program and just the history of it and of course the coaching staff. All of that played a huge part in why I came here.”​

 

[Scud49]

I've noticed that she moves her feet rather quickly when she is down low with the ball - I like that a lot.

I'm sensing big things ahead for this young lady. And I do think she is in fact 6'5", not 6'4", that won't hurt either.

 

[eebmg]

The best part of the story (very detailed Kudos) and in the video is

Nelson-Ododa’s goals at UConn include having her name on banners, winning championships and learning from her coaches. Garren said she will accomplish all of it and more.

You have to have big goals to succeed at UConn

 

[HuskylnSC]

She runs with grace uncommon in taller players. She is improving game by game and has already lost the deer in the headlights look of her first two games. She could be one of the best ever to wear the blue

 

[Pre-3]

I've noticed that she moves her feet rather quickly when she is down low with the ball - I like that a lot.

I'm sensing big things ahead for this young lady. And I do think she is in fact 6'5", not 6'4", that won't hurt either.

I think, (a dangerous notion) that 6'5" is the low starting point. Look at any available photo, any, and she seems closer to 6'6" than anything. Could she still be growing? Add that to a great reach and I think all she needs is coaching and time.

 

[enigmatic]

Wanted to say this on a previous ONO thread but ima say it now - I wish Olivia to be the new Kiah Stokes but of course with the offensive prowlness that Kiah never seemed to muster out of herself. Olivia may not have Kiah's sturdy build but I see the great potential in her

 

[j66kicker]

I think, (a dangerous notion) that 6'5" is the low starting point. Look at any available photo, any, and she seems closer to 6'6" than anything. Could she still be growing? Add that to a great reach and I think all she needs is coaching and time.

She says 6'4-1/2" barefoot. Seems about right to me.

 

[JordyG]

What I've noticed is she has good feet, great athleticism, runs well and has terrific hands. She reads the ball off the rim fairly well, and when she's out of position she has such great hops that she's able to jump over the box out to get rebounds. She's also real aggressive and plays with great energy. Sometimes as a freshman that energy gets her into trouble. Once she learns to better channel that energy, gets stronger, learns to keep her blocks in play and affect rather than block every shot; once she learns to trust her team mates on defense and stays on her mark instead of occasionally drifting, and once she gets her conditioning up she's just going to run other 6' 3" and 6"4" 's into the ground and she'll be a human eraser. She has nice form on her shot. Her FT average to this point doesn't really reflect it. If she can consistently hit that 10 to 15 footer and the occasional 3, she'll be a double/double machine.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

 

[Shorty Dee]

You can already see that Olivia is putting in the work with Coach C.D. She is starting to be more confident on the court. Olivia is going to be nice, and by March she will be a force to reckon with. I think she will bring a little more than Kiah Stokes did. Like Kiah, Olivia will be needed, and she will get playing time. I look forward to watching her play. She is special.

 

[Pre-3]

She says 6'4-1/2" barefoot. Seems about right to me.

Yep. Like I said, with sneakers 6'5"+

 

[oldude]

Liv has exceptional athletic ability. She is smart and she works hard. Once she adds a few lbs of muscle to her frame and she masters the various skills required to play at this level, Liv will be a dominant post player and future AA at UConn.

 

[JamesinGR]

If she can put on 10# of muscle as body matures, might we have, can we hope for Tina version 2?