From his parents home country of Nigeria, Chukwemeka Okafor's first name in the Igbo Language means "God has done well." Emeka Okafor did very well as a late blooming high school talent was recruited by Jim Calhoun, was part of an amazing freshman class in the fall of 2001 at UConn and by the time he left was an All American and a National Champion.

At Ballaire, Texas High School...just outside of Houston, Emeka played with future Oklahoma State star John Lucas III. His team lost in the 3rd round of the State Playoffs to Willowridge HS...They featured future Texas Star TJ Ford, Oklahoma State Ivan McFarland and a future Duke Blue Devil in Daniel Ewing. All would play in a a Final Four..with Okafor winning a championship. And despite some late interest from Arkansas and Vanderbilt, Okakfor chose UConn...and one of his incoming teammates featured a hot shot guard from Mt Vernon, NY in Ben Gordon.

Their impact would be felt right away...Gordon in the next blog...Joining Caron Butler, Johnnie Selvie, Tony Robertson and Taliek Brown, UConn would again rise up the rankings in their three years on campus. The 2001-02 season, Mek's debut would ironically come at home against Vanderbilt...an 11p-12r double double..The first of seven he'd get on the season. His coming out party came at Arizona in early January when the Huskies won 100-98 in OT in Tucson..Mek with 19p-15 and 9 blocks...He had 8 blocks in a win over Oklahoma as the Huskies won both the Regular Season and Big East Tournament Titles. Okafor with a 10p-10r double in the final against Pittsburgh...The first of three straight years the Huskies and Panthers would battle for Big East supremacy...Butler was the man in the NCAA Tournament, capped by his performance against Maryland in the Elite 8 for the 27-7 Huskies. Okafor shooting 58% from the field averaging 9 boards per game with 138 blocks (4.1pg) in his first season as a Husky...

the 2002-03 season, the Huskies went 23-10 and shared the Big East Regular Season title with Pittsburgh. Again he dominated Vanderbilt in an early season game of 25p-11r...15p-10r at Oklahoma..13p-7r-6b against North Carolina and 12-7-5 in the regular season meeting with the Panthers. But Pitt got the last laugh in the Tournament Finals...Again in the NCAA's, Mek would help get the Huskies to the Sweet 16 in San Antonio...20p-7blk against BYU, 18p-15r against Stanford and 21p-17r-6 blocks in the tough loss to Texas...Okafor shooting 58%, averaging 11.2 boards per game and blocking 156 shots (4.7 per game) as he earned the first of consecutive Big East Defensive Player of the Year and National Defensive Player of the Year Honors..while being named a third team All American in 2003..

When the 2003-04 season began, there was a lot of hype surrounding UConn Basketball. And it wasn't just the Men. As the Women's Team had everyone back from their National Championship Team. Both Teams were the Pre-Season Number One Teams as the season began. With Okafor being the face of the Men. But Gordon's talents were exploding as well. With Josh Boone, Taliek Brown, Charlie Villanueva, Rashad Anderson and Denham Brown...UConn was destined for greatness...Okafor wasn't completely healthy as the season wore on. He missed some early action where the Huskies lost to Georgia Tech at the Garden in November. But the double doubles added up as they in the 02'-03' season...27p-14r in his homecoming game at Rice, 21p-10r-9b in a home rout of Oklahoma and 11p-7r and 5blk in a home win in Hartford against Pitt, where he had an emphatic putback dunk in the second half that brought the house down...Pitt ended up winning the regular season Title, but a third showdown was inevitable. Okafor again the Big East Defensive Player of the Year with a Nation High 147 blocks..It was enough to get him the National Defensive POY as well....Mek didn't play the first two games of the Big East Tournament due to the back issues..But in the Final where Ben Gordon willed the Huskies to the Title, Okafor added 11p-13r-3 blk to take the rubber game of the three year trilogy between the Huskies and Panthers...

In the NCAA's Okafor was a force...15p-14r against Vermont, 10-12-2 against DePaul and a 12p-11r effort against Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16...That weekend in Phoenix was all about Gordon, Anderson and the Three Ball as the Huskies blew out Alabama in the Regional Final...UConn's Second Trip to the Final Four...this season in San Antonio where Jim Calhoun loosened up by letting his players enjoy the whole experience..That Weekend, Okafor named a consensus first team All American. Duke awaited UConn in the Final Four, where despite a fast start, Okafor picked up two quick fouls and in true Jim Calhoun fashion, was benched for the remainder of the half..Emeka was like a caged animal waiting be let loose. The Blue Devils took a 41-34 lead into the locker room...Okafor took over in the second half. But UConn was still down 9 inside the under 4 media time out....What happened no one saw coming as Duke never shot another free throw and the Huskies roared back. Okafor scored all 18 of his points in the second half....and 5 in an improbable 12-0 run that gave UConn a 79-78 win. Okafor the go ahead field goal in the final minute, then a free throw that put UConn up four...7/9 FG, 18p-7r and 2 blocks in the epic comeback....Then a total team effort with Okafor going 10/17 from the field en route to a 24p-15r effort..his 53rd and final double-double as the Huskies won the programs 2nd National Championship. Okafor named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player. While Okafor excelled on the court, he was even better in the classroom. A Finance Major with a 3.8 GPA Graduated in three years..And was named Academic All American of the year...

That Sping, Emeka was drafted Number Two overall by the Expansion Charlotte Bobcats..he also played on the 2004 Olympic Team that won Bronze in Athens...Okafor recorded 19 consecutive double-doubles in the 2004-05 season, was named an Eastern Conference All Star and at seasons end, he won the League's Rookie of the Year Award, edging out his UConn Teammate, Ben Gordon...

Emeka Okafor played for Charlotte, New Orleans and Washington from 2004-2013...before a herniated disk in his neck derailed his career. Cleared to play in May of 2017, he attempted a comeback with the Philadelphia 76ers...spending the season with Delaware of the G-League..The February of 2018, he signed a pair of 10 game contracts with New Orleans and was waived in camp the following year before ...These days, Okafor is playing in the Korean League with Ulsan Hyundai Moebus Phoebus.

In 2007 Emeka Okafor was part of the Inaugural Class to the Huskies of Honor...His career numbers.. 1,426 points (22nd) 59% FG (#4) 1091 rebounds (#4), 10.6 per game (6th), school records for blocks with 441 and per game with 4.3), 53 double-doubles (#3) and a career double-double average of 14p-11r per game...

Emeka Okafor, an All American on the court and in the classroom...A National Champion and a UConn Legend

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