 Okulaja with the German national team | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1975-07-10)10 July 1975 Lagos, Nigeria | |||||||||||
| Died | 17 May 2022 (aged 46) Berlin, Germany | |||||||||||
| Nationality | German | |||||||||||
| Listed height | 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||
| Listed weight | 107 kg (236 lb) | |||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||
| College | North Carolina (1995–1999) | |||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1999:undrafted | |||||||||||
| Playing career | 1999–2009 | |||||||||||
| Position | Power forward | |||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | ALBA Berlin | |||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Girona | |||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | FC Barcelona | |||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Unicaja Málaga | |||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Girona | |||||||||||
| 2004 | Benetton Treviso | |||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Pamesa Valencia | |||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | RheinEnergie Köln | |||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Khimki Moscow | |||||||||||
| 2007 | Etosa Alicante | |||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Brose Baskets | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Medals
| ||||||||||||
Ademola Okulaja (10 July 1975 – 17 May[1] 2022) was a German professionalbasketball player. The last team he played for were theBrose Baskets of theBasketball Bundesliga. After his playing career, he became an agent forNBA playerDennis Schröder.[2][3]
A 2.06 m (6' 9")forward, Okulaja received 172 caps for theGerman national team,[4] serving as a team captain for many years and winning bronze at the2002 World Championships. He playedcollege basketball in the United States atNorth Carolina and flirted briefly with theNBA before moving on to a successful career in Europe.
The son of a German mother and a Nigerian father, Okulaja was born in Nigeria but moved toBerlin with his family at the age of three.[5] In 1995, he graduated fromJohn F. Kennedy School in Berlin, before enrolling at theUniversity of North Carolina.
Okulaja played college basketball atNorth Carolina from 1995 to 1999. During the 1997–98NCAA season, he was a member of new coachBill Guthridge's successful "six starters" rotation withAntawn Jamison,Vince Carter,Ed Cota,Shammond Williams andMakhtar N'Diaye. In his senior season, he was namedMVP of the Tar Heels basketball team and won a spot on the 1998–99All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team. Okulaja was the first player in the history of UNC basketball who led the squad in scoring,rebounding, three-pointers made and steals.[6]
Okulaja played professionally for a variety ofEuroleague teams, includingALBA Berlin in the 1994–95 season winning theFIBA Korać Cup and again in 1999–00, and laterRheinEnergie Köln (2006–07) in Germany;CB Girona (2000–01 and 2003–04),Barcelona (2001–02),Unicaja Malaga (2002–03) andPamesa Valencia (2004–05) in Spain; andBenetton Treviso in Italy (2004).[7][8] His ALBA Berlin team won the 1999–00 German national (Bundesliga) championship. He won the "Rookie of the Year" award with Girona and was an All-League First Team selection that year.[9] In 2002, he won the award for "Most Spectacular Player" at the Spanish All-Star Game.[10]
Okulaja had three different attempts to join theNBA; his first training camp experience was with thePhiladelphia 76ers, then with theSan Antonio Spurs and finally theUtah Jazz, but was unable to make an NBA roster.
In 2008, Okulaja was diagnosed with aspinal tumor and had to go into a one-year therapy.[5] After it proved to be successful, he played one more season for theBrose Baskets.
In July 2010, he announced his retirement from professional basketball.[11]
Okulaja was also an experienced member of theGermany national team and one of the key figures of the team, alongsideDirk Nowitzki andPatrick Femerling. He played with the team at the European Championships in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001. He competed with the German national team at the2002 FIBA World Basketball Championship in the US,[12] winning bronze, and in Japan at the2006 FIBA World Basketball Championship.
Okulaja worked as analyst and commentator atSport1, a German sports channel.[13]
He founded Pro4Pros, a sports consulting company,[14] and then became director of the German office of Octagon, a sports and entertainment company.[15]
Okulaja died on 17 May 2022 inBerlin.[1] He is survived by his life partner Binita Bangura and two children.[16]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
