The Chapel Hill News

June 13, 2001

Okulaja's pro basketball career takes off

Author: Anthony Jeffries; Staff Writer

Edition: Final
Page: B1

CHAPEL HILL -- Ademola Okulaja signed autographs and talked to fans inside The Blue Heaven Basketball Museum Friday, just hours before Game 2 of the National Basketball Association Finals was set to begin in Los Angeles.

The former North Carolina basketball forward could have been at the Staples Center with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Okulaja signed with 76ers before this season and was eventually placed on the injured reserve list.

But Okulaja asked for and was granted a release in December so that he could gain more playing time in the Spanish League.

He never regretted the move.

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Okulaja was named rookie of the year in Spain, an honor for a player who once was a role player on a Tar Heel team that included Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter.

His six-month stint in Spain has given Okulaja the confidence that he can make another NBA team when camps start this summer.

"It was a dream come true to play in the NBA, but the important word is play," Okulaja said. "I am too young to sit around.

"I was learning every day from Allen Iverson, Tony Kukoc, Tyrone Hill and especially George Lynch, but I was not playing.

"I could have been with the Sixers, but I am very glad I made the move. My game was allowed to unfold. I am looking forward to the camps."

Okulaja gets none of the Sixers' playoff money because he is no longer on the team. But Okulaja gained valuable experience overseas that he figures will help him in the long run.

Although he was on the Sixers' roster, Okulaja never played in a regular-season game. In Spain, he was the go-to guy for Club Girona.

Okulaja was third in the league in scoring with a 20-point average and grabbed 8.3 rebounds a game. His 2.1 steals per game was sixth-best in the Spanish League, a league that Okulaja says is the closest in Europe to the NBA in talent and athleticism.

He played with and against several former NBA players.

His scoring average was much higher than the 13.9 points Okulaja averaged his senior year, when he was a first-team All-ACC selection. In fact, his time in Spain was the most success Okulaja's had since his Carolina days, when he played in two Final Fours and was a member of two ACC tournament championship teams.

Okulaja was not selected in the 1999 NBA draft, despite leading the Tar Heels in scoring as a senior. He played in Germany one season before surviving the Sixers' last cut before this season.

Exhibition games such as the one in the Smith Center between the Sixers' and the Toronto Raptors last October helped Okulaja make the team.

Okulaja made all four field goals and three free throws for 11 points and displayed his all-around skills.

"My season didn't go too well in Germany because the coach never let me unfold," Okulaja said. "The Spanish coach said he watched me the last five years, especially in college. He said he knew what I could do. I went out there and scored and rebounded. Sometimes I brought the ball up.

"I had around 12 to 14 shots a game. They called plays for me, and it was a great feeling. At the beginning, they tried it and they saw that I was delivering, and I got more and more calls.

"The press gave me a couple of good write-ups. I really couldn't read them because they were in Spanish, but my teammates always translated for me."

It wasn't until Okulaja returned home to Germany after the season ended that he found out how good a season he had. A buddy e-mailed Okulaja that he won numerous awards, including Spanish rookie of the year, best European player in Spain, first-team European player in Spain and first-team all-Spanish team.

Okulaja plans to use his new resume to impress NBA scouts. He hopes to play for either San Antonio or Toronto in an NBA summer league in Boston.

Okulaja played power forward in Spain, but is better suited at small forward in the NBA, so he is working on his quickness in addition to his other skills.

"Now I have to show them that I am really that kind of player who did well in Spain," Okulaja said.

Okulaja plans to resume training in a week.

He stopped off in Chapel Hill before returning to Atlanta to visit his brother. He and former teammate Shammond Williams of the Seattle SuperSonics played pick-up games in the Smith Center with current Carolina players.

Okulaja is watching the NBA Finals closely. He is not surprised that the Sixers are pushing the favored Los Angeles Lakers.

"All of (the Sixers) are workers," Okulaja said. "They get big money, but nobody thinks he is too good to throw himself on the floor. Everybody wants to win, and they don't care how they win.

"Of course, they have a great coach in Larry Brown. They have great leaders in Iverson, Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, Hill and Lynch. If you got all these guys together who hustle all the time, plus they have the talent and athleticism, you have a great package."

Okulaja also has a reputation as a player who does the little things to win, and he hopes his game is enough to latch on with an NBA team for good. But if not, he'll go back to Spain.

His team there provided him with a three-bedroom apartment and a car. He loves the people and the food.

"Hopefully, I will make a team," Okulaja said. "If not, I got a lot of good offers in Spain."