January 11, 2007
Chris Oakes: from Pepperdine to ?
Imagine this:
You take a new job and all goes well for a year or so. You’re in sync with your boss, you’re getting good evaluations and you enjoy your co-workers.
But then a change takes place--a seismic one. Your boss gets the axe and a new one is hired, one who has been very successful at a similar but much smaller company.
As is typical, this new leader has a certain way he likes things done. His methods and style are quite different from your previous boss. Radically different.
You give it time, doing your best to fit in and adapt. However, your skill set is no longer as useful as before and you are shifted into more of a secondary role.
You’re faced with a decision--do you stay and stick it out, hoping that the situation will somehow improve? Or do you look at opportunities elsewhere, other options where your abilities will provide you the chance to play a more prominent role and greater development is possible?
What do you do?
If you’re Chris Oakes, you value loyalty. So you give it time and your best shot. You listen, learn and adapt. But the gnawing feeling remains that the present course is no longer in your best interest. You decide to depart Pepperdine University and new coach Vance Walberg to seek a better fit.
That’s where Chris Oakes finds himself now.
&Over a few months, I went from hearing that the new style would be a great fit for me to seeing that this wasn’t necessarily so,& he said recently.
Oakes was initially fascinated by Walberg’s amped-up offensive and defensive schemes. Pepperdine took a summer excursion to Europe which gave Oakes the chance to experience the new 3-point shooting and pressure defense style under game conditions. He played 25-30 minutes a game, averaging 16 points and seven rebounds a contest.
But things changed once the school year and basketball practice began. &Coach Walberg began to focus on getting the team ready and who he thought could execute his style the best,& Oakes said. &I wanted to stick in there even though my role was turning out to be more of a decoy.&
Oakes did just that but remained unsettled. He wasn’t happy with his own performance and was also continually nagged by the operative question--should he remain or should he go?
He chose to try anew.
&Leaving the program and my teammates was the hardest thing because we went through a lot together,& Oakes said, &but I want to play basketball after college and the new scheme wasn’t going to get me there.&
In making his final decision, Oakes used something instilled in him by his late father James. &My father stressed three things in making decisions: stay loyal and give it a chance, go with your heart and stay prayerful,& Oakes said. &I look at all this as a blessing in disguise.&
Oakes, who just turned 19 this past December, will need to sit out an academic year before he can return to the basketball court. He plans to start classes again this month once he makes the decision on his new destination. &Because I played just a few games this season, I’ll have two and a half years of eligibility remaining,& he said.
He has no current particular preferences adding &I don’t care where it is as long as its the best fit for me.& But he’s evaluating schools, going through the same process as he did as a senior at Castlemont High. His academics are fine and in order.
Gerald Pleasant, Oakes’ coach at Castlemont High in Oakland said of him: &He’s the best kid I ever coached. He’s a very good player but he’s an even better person than player. It’s a reflection of his parents.&
It’s certain that there are a number of college coaches who would like to experience Chris Oakes, the person and player.