Tourney upset has O’Quinn on NBA radar

Kyle O’Quinn was one of basketball’s best-kept secrets, up until March 16, 2012. That was the day his Norfolk State Spartans defeated Missouri in a huge 15 over 2 tourney upset. Prior to that day, even people with orange roundies for brains — like those of us who write for CBT — may have been aware that O’Quinn was a dynamic scorer and shot-blocker, but likely harbored serious doubts that his skills would translate outside of the lowly MEAC.

We had to re-evaluate O’Quinn after that huge upset, and so did NBA scouts. As it stands today, the former Spartan has been flown to work out for the glitzy Los Angeles Lakers, and is scheduled to continue his victory tour through Brooklyn, San Antonio, San Francisco and Oklahoma City. The League wants him. It seems like a crazy dream, even to O’Quinn, though he’s starting to wake up to the possibilities. ”It’s all becoming very real now,” he told the Hampton Roads Pilot Online.

Unlike some blue-chippers who may feel that the NBA is a birthright, O’Quinn knows the dream is still far away. He’s taking steps to make it all happen.

O’Quinn has been living in Las Vegas and working out at Impact Basketball, one of the world’s top training facilities. He’s acquired an agent, Al Ebanks. And he’s embraced the idea that many eyes are on him.

“Every time I work out at Impact, someone is watching,” O’Quinn said. “Or at least, that’s the way I look at it. People know that some really good basketball players are here at Impact and they float in and out all the time just to watch people work out. Someone could be watching me from the rafters and I don’t even know they are there, so I make sure I’m working out hard every time.”

O’Quinn’s productive paranoia is charming. If the phrase “dance like nobody’s watching” has become a shopworn cliche, maybe it’s time to replace it with O’Quinn’s motto: “work like everybody’s watching.”