The Green Bay Phoenix are in the midst of a resurgent season and currently control their own destiny for a top three seed in next month’s Horizon League Tournament.

Four of the team’s top five leading scorers this season were with the program a season ago and have grown into key contributors.  It’s no surprise that all five have been in the starting lineup together for the past twelve games, with the Phoenix going 8-4 over that stretch.

Redshirt freshman Caden Wilkins, who sat out last season, has been solid and is a serious contender for the conference’s All-Freshman Team.  Justin Allen has provided some eye-popping scoring outputs and big-time shot making.  Marcus Hall and Preston Ruedinger are not only the faces of the program but its heart and soul. 

Given all that, the emergence of CJ O’Hara has been flying under the radar a bit. The sophomore guard’s sensational season so far has helped take the Phoenix out of the Horizon League basement and into a potential dark horse contender.

Lightly recruited out of Combine Academy in North Carolina, the Minnesota native appeared in 31 games a season ago as a true freshman for Green Bay. He averaged 4.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game after choosing the Phoenix over reported offers from Canisus, Charleston Southern, and Fairfield.

Through the first 25 games of the season last year, he played more than 15 minutes on just three occasions and only scored more than 5 points in one game during that span.  But by the end of the season, O’Hara was a key part of the rotation and averaged 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the floor over the team’s final five games.

The signs of a more than capable Division I player were there, and he chose to stick with the program despite a miserable 4-28 season last year. 

It’s safe to say it is paying dividends.

“We use CJ as the ultimate example,” Gottlieb said in a press conference earlier this season.  “He went through a stretch last year where he was barely playing and he was a little bit lost, and then he started to kind of buy-in and find a role and started a little bit at the end of the year.”

Fast forward to this season and O’Hara has started in all 26 of Green Bay’s games and is the team’s leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, the second leading rebounder at 4.6 per game, and leads the team in steals. During conference play, the Phoenix are +39 with him on the court, bested only by Ruedinger’s +47.

O’Hara ranks in the top 20 in the conference in points per game, rebounds per game, steals, free throw percentage, minutes per game, player efficiency rating, and win shares.

“I think he would probably tell you he’s got even better basketball in him,” Gottlieb added. “There’s stuff that he wants to do better, and yet he’s having a spectacular…we are not the same basketball team when he’s not on the floor.  Think about that.  From a guy we struggled to find minutes for last year even though we knew of his talent.”

“But just the buy-in, the improvement, the time he puts in the gym.  I can put him on any guy and he’s just gonna go and try and give that guy a bad night.”

O’Hara basically started last season as a defensive specialist, a role he continues to thrive in addition to his scoring capabilities. 

He still consistently draws the top defensive assignment against the opponent’s best players and leads the team in Defensive Win Shares, which is an “estimate of number of wins contributed by a player due to defense” per Sports Reference.

“It’s just about being consistent,” O’Hara said earlier this season.  “I know some days you might not be feeling it or not have the right energy, I just know I have to do my part for this team to have that kind of energy and grit out there.”

“So, I just try to come out every day before the game, I’m thinking like, energy and play hard and then that’s what I do out there.”

O’Hara has scored 15 or more points in 12 of the team’s 26 games so far this season and, even more impressive for a 6’4” guard, is doing most of his damage around the rim.

He has only attempted 20 three-pointers for the season, knocking down 5 at a 25.0% clip.  However, he is averaging 9.4 points in the paint per game this season against Division I opponents, which ranks in the 99^th percentile in the country according to CBB Analytics. 

He is one of the best in the country at attacking the rim with an efficiency rate of 1.07 points per play on drives and slashes to the rim, which ranks in the 92^nd percentile in the country per Hoop Explorer.  He is also one of the best at getting to the rim on backdoor cuts, scoring 1.27 points per play when he scores as a cutter – the average D1 play is 0.89 points according to the site.

“He’s definitely the best cutter in our league.” Gottlieb said.  “I’d say he’s one of the elite cutters in college basketball. And while that may not mean much to somebody at home, inside the sport it’s like holy cow, it’s so valuable.”

“Tremendous finisher, unbelievable on-ball defender, is becoming a really good off-ball defender. He rebounds, he high-points rebounds where he goes up and gets them where other people do not. But more than anything, he is a star in his role.”

“He goes out and plays and knows where the cuts are, knows he’s got to guard whoever the toughest player is, competes every day. He’s awesome.”

O’Hara and the Phoenix will look to continue their winning ways on Thursday night in front of a national television audience when Purdue Fort Wayne comes to town.  Tip off is at 6:00 PM at the Kress Events Center on the UW-Green Bay campus. 

The game will air on ESPN2, the first home game to be broadcast on national TV since the 2020 season.