University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: First Visit For Okulaja
November 15, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Nov. 15, 2011
By Adam Lucas
Sunday's game at UNC-Asheville was notable for more than just the 91-75 Tar Heel victory. Ademola Okulaja was in the stands behind the Carolina bench, watching his first UNC game live since he graduated in 1999.
With Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, Okulaja was part of a trio that defined the late 1990's for Carolina basketball. They were one of those classes that will always be linked together, like Wallace, Stackhouse and McInnis or Felton, McCants and May. After being spotted as a prepster in Germany by former Tar Heel Henrik Rodl, the Berlin native arrived with a surprisingly polished game, and started 14 games as a freshman and 112 in his four-year career. By the time he was a senior, he had evolved into the 1999 team's go-to offensive weapon, averaging 13.9 points per game and hitting several big shots, including a game-winning three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left at Virginia.
After Carolina, Okulaja had a decade-long professional career in Europe. He retired in the summer of 2010 and is now doing some television work to stay in touch with the European game. Okulaja's extensive playing experience kept him away from Chapel Hill during past seasons, but he returned to the area last week for the wedding of classmate Shammond Williams. With the ceremony in Greenville, S.C., it was a relatively easy drive for Williams and Okulaja to watch the Tar Heels open Asheville's Kimmel Arena.
"Carolina is a wordwide brand, and you see their stuff everywhere you go in Europe," Okulaja said. "The only problem is that it's harder to see the games in Europe than I would like."
Williams's wedding marked a rare reunion for Okulaja, Carter (who traveled cross-country to Greenville after attending the Carrier Classic on Friday night) and Jamison, who were a Chapel Hill version of the Three Musketeeers in college. They reunited in the fall of 2009 at Carolina's pro alumni game, where they spent plenty of time on Franklin Street, and picked up again this weekend where they had left off, posing for pictures and generally acting like the college trio--with perhaps a touch of gray in the hair of some of them--they had once been.
When Williams's new wife, Lynn Harris, did not attend Sunday's game with Shammond, Okulaja was quick to quip, "Shammond takes the games a little too seriously for her to come with us."
Okulaja's first in-person view of the Tar Heels was a good one, as point guard Kendall Marshall handed out 15 assists on his way to the highest assist total in any true Tar Heel road game. Naturally, that brought to mind Ed Cota, who racked up a UNC-record 1,030 assists over his four-year career while playing on some of the most entertaining Carolina teams of the modern era. Many of those assists came to Okulaja, who has a unique viewpoint on the similarities and differences between the two guards.
"They're a little bit similar in terms of their passing," Okulaja said. "But Ed is from New York, and those New York guys dribble a little differently. The great thing about Kendall is that he's just a sophomore and he's still learning every day from some great teammates and coaches."
In addition to seeing his Tar Heels play for the first time, Okulaja also had positive health news to report: after being diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2008, he is cancer-free.
"Everything is good health-wise," he said. "I got a green light from the doctors, so I'm very excited."
After his brief visit to the States, Okulaja returns to Europe today.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter and Facebook.
