Unquestioned commitment: connecticut's Emeka Okafor is plotting a course for early graduation and basketball domination—on offense as well as defense

Sporting News, The, Feb 3, 2003 by Kyle Veltrop

The after-hours calls come to Ted Taigen's house with enough regularity that even the ones that have come at, say, 3 or 4 in the morning aren't accompanied by jolts of anxiety. Taigen simply rubs his eyes wipes away his dreams, picks up the phone and says, "Hello, Emeka."

"Doc," the 6-9, 252-pound center says, "I have a question."

Emeka Okafor, the only Division I player who rank in the top 10 in blocked shots (first) and rebounding (ninth), also is high in this category: questions asked. Taigen, who has taught at Connecticut for 20-plus years and is the faculty advisor to the basketball team, can attest to that.

"He may call to ask me about a certain angle he's taking with a paper he's writing," Taigen says, "or he wants to make sure everything's taken care of academically for whenever he goes on the road, or he may want to make sure he's on course for his degree."

It's no wonder Okafor's off-the-court statistics also are All-American worthy. He has a 3.8 GPA in finance, and he's on target to graduate in three years, thanks to advanced placement courses at Bellaire High in Houston and heavy class loads once he reached the Storrs campus, such as his 18 hours this semester. Okafor, a sophomore, says he won't consider going to the NBA until he has his degree.

Huskies star guard Ben Gordon rarely sees Okafor, his roommate, lounging around the dorm, watching TV, goofing around. "His time-management skills are amazing," Gordon says. "Whenever I have seen him taking it easy, he'll always jump up a couple of minutes later and say, `I need to be working on something.'"

In class last week, Okafor's mind wandered and he began scribbling in his notebook. Doodling? Hardly. Okafor began sketching out his schedule, plotting when he would study when he would practice, when he would eat--even when he would sleep.

Jim Calhoun has coached future college professors and good guys/star players such as Ray Allen, but Calhoun says Okafor could be the best combination of basketball player/ student/role model he has coached.

"The last few games," Calhoun says, "he has gotten frustrated with the officials over the fouls being called on him, and that's the biggest trouble he has given me. He was 20 minutes late once, but he spent that time after class questioning a professor."

Okafor is blessed with intelligence that is uncommon and athletic ability that is even more rare. Yet it is his thirst for knowledge, his insatiable desire to get a little better than he was yesterday, that makes him such a delightful curiosity.

Dean of defense

Some things Okafor has to work at really hard. Then, there's blocking shots.

"That has always been my thing," Okafor says. "I've always been able to look at the shooter and get a good read on the angle of the shot and time it. When someone tries a head fake, I'll look at his body and see if he's even in a good position to shoot the ball, and that'll keep me from leaving my feet when I shouldn't."

Calhoun, Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson, Georgetown's Craig Esherick and Miami's Perry Clark agree on what makes Okafor such a dominating shot blocker: his quickness. Okafor's feet are nifty, and he pops off the floor more than he jumps. Okafor can cover both sides of the lane, which is a big reason he's averaging 4.6 blocks this season after swatting 138 shots last season, the sixth-highest total ever for a freshman.

"Usually, he doesn't block the shot of the guy he's guarding; he blocks the shot of the guy coming from the other side when he comes over for off-side help;" says Sampson, whose Sooners have played the Huskies the last two seasons. "That means everyone has to be aware of him. With a guy like Okafor, you end up penetrating to pitch. You're not looking to penetrate and score against him."

Calhoun raves about Okafor's ability to block shots--and not just stop penetration--off his help defense. "You don't see that anymore," Calhoun says. "I know (Bill) Russell did it; I grew up in Boston, so I can use that type of comparison."

As an assistant and as the head coach at Georgetown, Esherick has had great shot blockers, from Patrick Ewing to Alonzo Mourning to Dikembe Mutombo to Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje. Esherick says the 3-point line has minimized the domination a shot blocker can have on a game, such as Ewing had in college.

That was underscored January 20 when UConn played Miami. Okafor briefly guarded Darius Rice, who is 6-10. It would seem natural that Okafor would be able to clamp down inside on Rice, but in the brief time he guarded Rice, Okafor had to chase him 20 feet from the basket. Rice faced a flurry of defenders and defenses that night, but he made seven 3-pointers and scored 43 points, and the Hurricanes won. That's certainly one way to neutralize a great shot blocker.

Still, Esherick says Okafor's defensive impact is large.

"A great shot blocker--and Okafor's a great shot blocker--can make up for your deficiencies," he says. "It also permits you to go for steals or double team more on the perimeter, knowing you have a guy in back who can threaten any shot. That mere threat can keep people from going in the lane."