Background and career
Jahlil Obika Okafor (; born December 15, 1995) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Levanga Hokkaido of the B.League. He played his freshman season of college basketball for the 2014–15 Duke national championship team. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Okafor had been heavily recruited before high school and was at the top of the recruiting rankings for several years. He played high school basketball in Chicago, Illinois for Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, where he earned high school national player of the year awards from McDonald's, USA Today and Parade. Okafor signed with Duke as a package with Tyus Jones, with widespread recognition as the preseason Collegiate National Player of the Year. At Duke, he earned the USBWA National Freshman of the Year and ACC Player of the Year, and a unanimous 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American first-team selection.
Okafor was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. His father, Chukwudi, known as Chuck, is a second-generation Nigerian American of Igbo descent, and his mother, Dacresha Lanett Benton, was Bantu-American and European-American. As a youth, Okafor split time between his mother's home in the town of Moffett, Oklahoma, and his father's home in Chicago. When he was nine years old, his mother contracted bronchitis and died two weeks later from a collapsed lung. Okafor permanently moved in with his father to the South Side of Chicago and then to Rosemont. Okafor attended Rosemont Elementary. The adjustment was difficult because he was shy and so tall that other students thought he was put in the class for having failed. In November 2008, during seventh grade, he matched his father's height of 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m). Later the family moved to Chicago's North Side so that Okafor could attend Whitney Young High School. As a 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) eighth-grader, Okafor was recruited by DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball, in violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting rules, when DePaul Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto made public comments about an offer. Initially, interim coach Tracy Webster, made an oral offer on January 30 outside the DePaul locker room at Allstate Arena. The offer was noted online by ESPNChicago.com and picked up by the press, leading to the problematic statements by Ponsetto. In February 2010, Ponsetto confirmed in a statement:
This is a young guy we've been talking with for a long time, and who has been to games and we have a relationship with because his uncle works for the Rosemont Police Department...I think it's a prospect who has grown up around DePaul basketball. I think he's probably a fan and someone who has been a fan for some time, since we have played in Rosemont for the last 30 years.
Okafor and Whitney Young teammate Paul White were regarded as the best incoming freshmen in the Chicago metropolitan area, according to the Chicago Sun-Times's Joe Henricksen. They joined a team with six returning seniors that had finished as state runners up the prior year. Along with 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) sophomore Thomas Hamilton Jr. and White, Okafor was part of a trio of Whitney Young players ranked in the top 10 of their respective national classes by ESPNU. Entering the season, Whitney Young was considered to resemble a college team due to its size and athleticism. That year, Okafor feels he was not one of the "key players" on the team, but attending tournaments with elite players such as Austin Rivers and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist inspired him to be one. Following his freshman season, Okafor was regarded as the second best college basketball prospect in the Chicago area behind Jabari Parker. The scouting report on him was that he possessed an improved mid-range jump shot, nimble feet, soft hands and physical skills at 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) that made him a mismatch against almost any high school competitor. Prior to his sophomore season Dave Spahn of SLAM Magazine described Okafor as a player with the footwork and ambidexterity to dominate his opponents, placing him in the conversation for the role of best player in the national class of 2014. In August 2011, ESPN ranked him as the third best player in the class of 2014. Okafor and White were featured in Ball So Hard, the first documentary short by Life + Times. On December 22, in front of an audience that included John Calipari, Rick Pitino, Derrick Rose and Anthony Davis at the UIC Pavilion, Okafor had 20 points (10 in the fourth quarter), nine rebounds and three blocked shots against cross-town rival Simeon and its star Parker in a 62–55 loss. Following the season, the Chicago Sun-Times named him to the Class 4A All-State first team along with Parker, Keith Carter, Darius Paul and Fred VanVleet. The Chicago Tribune named him to its second team All-State team. The Associated Press named him to its Class 4A second team. He was also selected by the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association to its 25-man boy's All-City team. The Chicago Sun-Times named him to its All-Public League second team as well as its All-area 20-man team. By the end of his sophomore season, he started appearing on ballots from ESPN HS's 10-person panel for the Mr. Basketball USA award as the best high school basketball player in the country. He was one of twenty sophomores chosen as Underclass All-Americans by ESPN HS.
In June 2012, Sports Illustrated named him one of their "Future Game Changers", a group of fourteen young athletes who are considered to be the brightest talents of their respective sport (such as Sarah Hendrickson, Jabrill Peppers, and Taylor Townsend). On September 19, Calipari offered Okafor a scholarship to play for Kentucky, joining Ohio State, Michigan State, Louisville, Illinois, Duke, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona as programs that have offered Okafor. Okafor was one of 10 USA Today preseason All-USA selections (along with Aaron Gordon, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Kasey Hill, Jones, Parker, Julius Randle, Noah Vonleh, Andrew Wiggins). Okafor was named as one of the top 5 Illinois Mr. Basketball contenders (along with Parker, Kendrick Nunn, Sterling Brown and Malcolm Hill) prior to the season by the Chicago Tribune's Mike Helfgot. Whitney Young was the number eight ranked team in the MaxPreps.com national preseason poll. Young entered the season ranked fourteenth in the nation according to ESPN. On December 20 Okafor and Young lost in overtime to Dakari Johnson's ESPN #1-ranked Montverde Academy. Young was ranked #9 at the time. On January 19, Okafor led Young to an 85–52 victory over Long Beach Polytechnic High School at the Hoophall Classic with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. The victory gave Young a 7–1 record against nationally ranked teams for the year, moving Young to #2 in the USA Today rankings as they prepared for the January 26 crosstown showdown against Simeon and Parker. In the Chicago Public High School League playoffs February 15 finals contest against Morgan Park High School Okafor tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocked shots, including a game-saving block against Billy Garrett Jr., in a 60–56 overtime Public League Championship game victory over Morgan Park. Okafor was recognized as a 2013 All-Public League first team selection by the Chicago Sun-Times along with Nunn, Parker, Alexander and Billy Garrett Jr. On February 28, he was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. On March 25, Okafor finished as runner-up in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting to Parker by a 315–277-point margin, including a 43–40 first place vote margin. On April 17, he was a first team All-USA selection by USA Today along with Wiggins, Aaron Harrison, Randle and Parker. Following the demise of ESPN HS, HighSchoolHardwood.com undertook several honoraria selections. Although MaxPreps.com did not select him as a first team All-American, they did select him as a Junior All-American along with Stanley Johnson, Joel Berry, Jones, and Emmanuel Mudiay.
Following his time with Team USA, Okafor participated in the Nike Pro-Am Chi-League, the All-Peach Jam, and the Adidas Nations event. He made his verbal commitment on ESPNU to Duke basketball on November 15, jointly with Tyus Jones. Prior to his senior season, USA Today named him to its 10-man preseason All-USA team along with Alexander, Stanley Johnson, Jones, Trey Lyles, Mudiay, Malik Newman, Kelly Oubre, D'Angelo Russell, and Myles Turner. On November 21, Winslow committed to Duke, giving them the number one recruiting class in the nation with Jones, Okafor, Winslow and Grayson Allen all committed. Okafor was joined on the Chicago Tribune's preseason Illinois Mr. Basketball top 5 by Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Tyler Ulis and Keita Bates-Diop. Okafor dominated the December 27–30, Les Schwab Invitational hosted by Liberty High School by leading the tournament in scoring (31) and rebounding (12.5) and finished 2013 atop the three major recruiting databases (ESPN, Rivals and Scout). Young went 2–2 in the tournament, losing to Rainier Beach High School as well as losing to Oregon's defending Class 6A state champions West Linn High School. On January 4 at the Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, West Virginia, Okafor earned the tournament MVP based on a 24-point and nine-rebound performance against Mudiay's Prime Prep Academy. Okafor and Young reached an anticipated city championship matchup with Curie and Alexander at the Jones Convocation Center. Okafor had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Curie won the city championship 69–66 in quadruple overtime as Okafor had 16 points before fouling out with 2:13 remaining in regulation. The CPL Championship game was attended by Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel and was the lead story on the late edition of SportsCenter. On March 14, Okafor posted 35 points and 13 rebounds in a 75–66 victory over St. Rita of Cascia High School (who featured Kentucky-bound Charles Matthews), earning Young its first sectional title since 2009 and leaving them one victory away from the final four. On March 18, Okafor led Young to a 58–32 victory over Loyola Academy with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks. On March 21 Okafor's 33 points and 14 rebounds enabled Young to overcome a record setting 56-point performance by Brunson with a 75–68 victory over Stevenson High School. On March 22, Okafor and Young won the IHSA Class 4A state championship by defeating Benet Academy 46–44. Okafor only produced 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists as he battled Xavier-bound Sean O'Mara.
