Maika Ostling (2012)

photo courtesy of oregonlive.com

Committed to Oregon State – 01/26/2011

Maika Ostling – 6’10″, 230, C, Dayton, Or (Dayton)

Maika Ostling is the first Oregon prep prospect to be recruited and landed by Coach Rob. Finally, OSU breaks through in their own territory. Let’s hope more like Maika start taking a serious look at home first.

Maika has a generally good game for a broad-shouldered big.  He has an assortment of back to the basket moves, and he can hit from the elbow, the short corner or from beyond the arc.  He plays with good effort, and he plays smartly.  He has a tendency to take and make high percentage shots with frequency. Though he has all the tools of a classic big, he also likes to face it up as well as run the floor.

Where his game has issues is also where the most upside lies in his game. His weakness is his footwork.  He fails to set a proper base on the blocks and gets pushed off them sometimes.  He also fails to gain position for help defense or to clear the lane for a rebound at times.  But he has the tools to do all of this with ease.  We all know the story of Stephen Paea and how he gained his power by just deciding to do bench presses after dinner every night.  Maika needs to do this with his legs and his hands.  If he acquires strength and power in those two areas, he can be a monster.

As his frame fills in and he feels more comfortable being the biggest person in the gym, we should expect him to storm through his final year or so… and beyond.