DENVER – Laolu Oke could have written an interesting "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" essay as a high school freshman.
 
What would it have been about?
 
Growing.
 
"It just came out of nowhere over the summer," Oke said. "And I didn't really realize it until I went to school my freshman year, and everybody was looking up at me. And I was like, 'What?'"
 
Oke, MSU Denver's third-year sophomore forward, grew from 5-foot-8 to 6-4 back then.
 
"Then I was like, yeah, I'm going to play basketball," Oke said. "It just made sense."
 
And it continued to make sense as he grew to 6-6 by his senior year and now stands 6-8.
 
Last weekend, he made his first career start on Friday and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds at Westminster. He followed that up with a career-high 14 points and posted his first career double-double with 11 rebounds Saturday at Colorado Mesa.
 
"He had a great weekend," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "We think he can be one of the best rebounders in the conference, if not the country. And his offensive game is starting to come along, just in terms of his comfort having the ball in his hands."
 
Early statistics show that Oke is already living up to those expectations.
 
Heading into a three-games-in-six-days homestand – the Roadrunners play host to Western Colorado on Saturday at 4 p.m., Colorado Christian on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and South Dakota Mines on Thursday at 6 p.m. – Oke is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game, good for third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 21^st in NCAA Division II.
 
Even more impressively, he's snared 15 offensive rebounds (including 13 in two games last weekend) for an average of 5.0 that's second-best in the RMAC and No. 4 in Division II. With 28 total rebounds, he leads the RMAC and is 19^th nationally.
 
And the numbers really jump out when considering that Oke didn't focus on basketball until he started growing.
 
"I played for my middle school team, but I didn't think a lot about it," Oke said. "I liked watching it. I kept up with the Nuggets. But I wasn't very good, nor didn't I really care for it that much.
 
"I was the point guard for my seventh-grade team. And then after I grew I became a big."
 
 
In other words, there should be plenty of untapped potential. As he was still learning the game and learning how to be an inside player, Oke put up just modest numbers as a high school player.
 
"We thought he was a couple of years away, and we told him that," Bahl said of recruiting Oke from Overland High School. "We redshirted him that first year (in college). And he's done the work, and he can still get bigger, faster and stronger.
 
"He has great athletic ability, and then he's got a motor on him that most kids don't have. He can just go and go and go. The sky is the limit. And this year being what it is (players won't lose any eligibility this season), he's kind of still a freshman because next year he'll still be a sophomore."
 
Oke has high expectations for his future that certainly don't seem unreasonable based on last weekend. Add in that fact that he averaged 14.2 rebounds per 40 minutes while playing every game in a limited role as a reserve last season, and that's he's averaging 14.5 per 40 through three games this year, and some big-time production seems certain.
 
"I would like to average a double-double, just do that on a consistent basis," Oke said. "I'd like to be an all-league player and just do whatever it takes to set my team up for success and help us win. Whatever they need, I'll do it."
 
The Roadrunners are looking to pick up some wins in the next week after starting the season 0-3.
 
"I think I'm playing well, but I feel like I could do more to help my team win," Oke said. "We want to win. Me playing well isn't the end goal, it's to win."
 
A practically brand-new team – Oke is one of only three returning players from last year – struggled against a veteran Colorado School of Mines team (now ranked No. 8 in the national coaches' poll) in the season opener, then went on the road and suffered a one-point defeat at Westminster before losing Saturday to a Colorado Mesa team that is now ranked No. 22.
 
The biggest issue has been the Roadrunners' 29.6 percent shooting from the field. But that seems very likely to change.
 
"We're playing better, but when you shoot 25 percent, you're not going to beat anybody," Bahl said. "We're getting the shots we want. It's the layups and free throws that you've got to convert. We missed 12 makeable layups against Westminster and      15 against Mesa. And that adds up. But the positive thing is we're getting those shots."
 
Oke has been a bright spot in that department as well. He made 7 of 8 from the field last weekend and is 8 for 11 overall while averaging 8.3 points.
 
"Given the opportunity that I've had, I've put myself in a good place to get these kinds of numbers," he said. "I've seen a lot my first two years here, and I understand how things can be done.
 
"I'm just trying to get better every year, do whatever I can to help my team win. Whether it's scoring, playing defense, rebounding … whatever it takes. I wasn't the best in high school, and I'm not the best now. I've got a lot to work on and a lot to improve my game. I'm willing to work hard and get better."