Ademola Okulaja is remembered most as a great teammate.
Tragically, another former UNC basketball player has died unexpectedly. The 6-9 Okulaja, who started for four seasons during the Dean Smith-Bill Guthridge eras, passed away at age 46 from a recurring cancer that he first had 14 years ago.
In the freshman class that had future stars Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, Okulaja wasn’t as talented as either but more mature from years of playing club ball in Germany and learning seven languages before coming to Carolina. He had interesting start and finish points at UNC.
Midway through his freshman season, Okulaja replaced Carter in the starting lineup because Smith was frustrated by Carter relying too much on his amazing athletic ability. After reaching three Final Fours (1991, ’93 and ’95) in five years, the 1996 Heels went 21-11 with early ACC and NCAA tournament ousters.
Amid rumors that Carter would transfer, Okulaja emerged as the steady small forward, averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds and shooting 49 percent from the 3-point line. He started for the next two years alongside Carter and Jamison, both early NBA first-round picks.
As a senior, following ACC championships and two more Final Fours in 1997 and ’98, Okulaja and Ed Cota anchored the team and the German hung his own star, earning first-team All-ACC honors by leading the Heels in scoring and rebounding and making 43 percent of his 3 balls.
Carolina lost three times to Duke and to Weber State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but Okulaja is remembered by assistant coach Dave Hanners as “extremely mature with a superior work ethic. He was one of the smartest players we ever had, a tremendous teammate.”
After failing to make an NBA roster, Okulaja starred in European professional basketball and was a coach and mentor to young people in Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia, a broadcaster and eventually a sports agent. In 2008, he was diagnosed with a spinal tumor, recovered and played one more season of pro ball.
He knew he wasn’t the most talented player on the court, but no one outworked or out-hustled him; Smith and Guthridge gave him the green light to make plays and shoot open jumpers.
An example of Billy Joel’s refrain, “Only the good die young.”
Featured image via The News & Observer/Scott Sharpe
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