On September 19, John Calipari extended an offer to Okafor to play for Kentucky, joining Ohio State, Michigan State, Louisville, Illinois, Duke, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona. Okafor announced his decision on November 2 to enter the 2013 NBA Draft.
Okafor is from New York City but grew up in Chesterfield, Virginia. He played high school basketball at Cathedral Catholic High School in Los Angeles. As a senior, he averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks per game. He chose to attend the University of Virginia over other offers from Kansas, Maryland, Notre Dame, Stanford, and USC.
He was considered one of the best centers in his class and was projected as a top-five pick. However, he suffered a knee injury during his final season of college ball that required surgery. This dropped his stock down to around #10 where the Cavaliers selected him with the third overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
During his only season at UVA, Okafor averaged 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. He also appeared in 51 contests and started 40 times. Virginia went 30-1 when he scored in double figures and 16-0 when he grabbed eight or more rebounds. He was voted by his teammates as the team's most valuable player.
He attended Texas University and won All-American honors as a junior. Okafor was born to a Nigerian father and an African American mother in Dallas, Texas. He played only one season for the Texas Longhorns before being selected with the number one overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.
In 2001, Alex Okafor's number 33 jersey was retired by Texas University. The retirement ceremony took place during the annual Red-White game which is held in Austin, Texas. In that game, the Texas football team beat the Texas A&M Aggies 31-28 in overtime to retain their championship title.
After graduating from Texas with a degree in economics, Okafor went on to have a successful career in the National Football League (NFL). He was chosen by the New York Giants with the number one overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft and he remains the only player from his draft class to be selected first overall. As a Giant, Okafor was a nine-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion. He finished his NFL career with the Washington Redskins after seven seasons with them. During his time with the Redskins, Okafor helped them reach the playoffs five times.
Jahlil Obika Okafor (born December 15, 1995) is an American-Nigerian professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Pelicans (NBA). He was a member of the 2014-15 Duke national championship team as a freshman.
He played one season at Dillard University before transferring to the University of Virginia. As a junior, he averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. After his junior season, he entered the 2015 NBA draft where he was selected second by the Philadelphia 76ers. The following day, he signed with them.
He currently plays center for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Here are some videos of him in action:
2013 High School All-America Game
2014 McDonald's All-American Game
2015 Nike Hoop Summit
2016 Reebok ABCD Camp
2017 Under Armour Elite 24
2018 Peach Jam
2019 Jordan Brand Classic
As a rookie, he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 16.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Calipari started playing basketball at a young age and spent two years at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington before moving to Clarion State. Calipari played basketball at both campuses and earned a marketing degree from Clarion State in 1982. After graduating, he returned to North Carolina-Wilmington for one season before moving on again, this time to Kentucky.
He took over as head coach at his new school in 1986 after coaching at Clarion State for two seasons. He led Kentucky to its first National Championship in 1988, beating Michigan State in the final. The following year, they lost to Arkansas in the final game of the McDonald's College Basketball Tournament. In 1990, Calipari won his second national title with a victory over UNLV in the final game of the Jordan Classic.
He left Kentucky after three seasons to take over at Memphis where he stayed for five years before moving on again, this time to UConn where he coached for ten years. In 2010, Calipari returned to Lexington as head coach of the Wildcats but was fired after just one season.
He has been hired as head coach by the New York Knicks but will not start working with the team until later this year after agreeing to a four-year deal with an option for a fifth year.
In 364 games over 12 seasons, Calipari is 228-136.
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