He wore it before, but I don't know why he chose it before.
Wanted to say one thing that Chris Fedor brought up in his post draft podcast. He said that the thing the guys he has recently drafted have in common is team USA affiliation. Okoro didn't make the team one year, was disappointed and really wanted it so he worked hard and got the place above another guy a year younger the next year, who was seen as a better prospect. The name escapes me at the moment.
Koby cut his teeth with team USA and some of his contacts he really respects their opinion there apparently. They had high praise for both Sexton and Okoro and that is one reason he felt comfortable taking him. Coaches from team USA said Okoro was instrumental in their success.
The other thing he said was a big deal for Koby was that Auburn had a team made of guys who had gone to the Elite 8, and yet when Okoro came on board, Pearl said, "This is our leader" and those guys were willing to follow him even though most of them were 3 years older and he was just coming in.
Going to probably take a lot longer to earn that respect in the NBA, but if he can do that for our team. That will be big, and we need his influence to get the guys to buy into team winning like that. I thought they were closer to that when Bickerstaff took over, and in that way I think Bickerstaff and Okoro are totally on the same page.