Lucas: Okonkwo Embraces Carolina Culture

By Adam Lucas

James Okonkwo made the decision to attend the University of North Carolina without ever seeing Chapel Hill in person.

He admits it took some blind faith. West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins resigned in the middle of June, just as Okonkwo was preparing to play in North Macedonia for his native Great Britain's U20 squad. A few days later, the center entered the transfer portal.

And a few days later, he found himself on multiple Zoom calls with Carolina head coach Hubert Davis.

"His enthusiasm was really reassuring," Okonkwo says. "He said we didn't have many guys on the team who do what I do with that blue collar mentality."

Okonkwo's physical style is still developing in practice, where he's been a valuable daily challenge for Armando Bacot and the other Tar Heel post players. Okonkwo's offensive skills aren't completely developed yet, but he's a pest defensively, competes for every rebound, and doesn't easily give way in the paint.

That aggressive mentality was only honed at West Virginia, where it was a nice fit for the style employed by Huggins.

"It's blue collar basketball there," Okonkwo said. "Everybody is tough, and everybody works hard. You give everything you can for as long as you can…I've been blessed with the frame I have and I have every intention of using it. And mentality is important, too. If you don't have the energy coming into a practice or game, if you don't try to break somebody, if you don't have that edge on your shoulder, you don't belong on a basketball court. I think I'm doing that in practice and I hope I can do that in the games."

Okonkwo comes from an athletic family that includes two brothers who have played or are playing Division I tennis. And the big man himself spent plenty of time on a tennis court before discovering basketball around the age of 11. By the time he was 13, he was playing for a local club team, the Reading Rockets, and was on the path that would bring him to America.

And, eventually, all the way to Chapel Hill. In his unconventional recruitment, his first visit to the Smith Center came after he'd already committed to the Tar Heels. But it still made a significant impression.

"Everyone here is together and on the same page," Okonkwo says. "There's a culture of winning here that is refreshing. The first time I went down to the court was with Coach Sully and Coach Frederick, and we walked down to the main court and looked up at the rafters. I felt confident we could go out and win another one. The winning culture permeates the walls here. Everybody is a team and we all care about winning. That was the biggest motivation for me."

So far, that motivation has translated into ten minutes in five games. But it's not hard to imagine a scenario where foul trouble means the Tar Heels need Okonkwo to play important minutes against an ACC opponent.

That's when he believes the daily practice battles will be most beneficial.

"I have the opportunity to defend our great bigs every day," he says. "It's a unique position. Armando is very skilled in the post and is a skilled rebounder, and he's big and strong. I get used to playing against that every day, and I also have to switch up my defensive tactics completely and guard someone like J-Wash (Jalen Washington) who is a little more nimble. That's a good balance of what the next level looks like and helps me become the best defender I can be."

So expect Okonkwo to be back on the practice court this afternoon, banging with Bacot again. "I'm doing him a disservice if I don't," he says. "You don't know how much time you have on a basketball court. If I hold back for one day, I might never get that day back, and that might be my last day playing basketball."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

James Okonkwo

Jalen Washington

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