In his book "A Passion To Lead," Jim Calhoun speaks of the emergence of Emeka Okafor though is ability to be self-motivated.Some people are naturally driven to achieve. Emeka Okafor, the center on my 2004 NCAA title team, was a prime example. He was not a blue-chip prospect when we recruited him. He was a Top 100 high school player—considered good but not great. Meka, as we called him, was six feet nine, and athletic. He was mobile. He could run the court. He could rebound. He could block shots. He was a little thin, and like most freshman, his offensive skills were raw. But it didn’t take me and the other coached long to recognize that Meka—who grew up in Houston, Texas, and is of Nigerian descent—was a special kid. After we saw him for a couple of months, my coached and I were turning to each other with little smiles on our faces. We knew he was going to be better than anticipated.
He needed almost no motivation from me or any UConn coaches or teacher to realize his wonderful potential as both a student and a basketball player. He was intelligent and driven to success the moment he set foot on campus. Nobody had to tell him to go to class. He majored in finance—the honors program—and in his three years in Storrs he was twice an Academic All-American.
I didn’t have to bug him to work on his basketball game either. He was often the first player in the weight room and the last to leave. Meka wanted to get better—ever day—and the combination of his skills, athletic potential, and desire to improve helped transform him from a promising 200-pound player as a freshman into an imposing 250-pound All-American as a junior. After practice, he would often spend extra time in the gym working on his post moves.
I used to say that Meka operated on cruise control. And certainly all his hard work paid off: He was not only a first-team All-American as a junior, but co-national player of the year, along with Jameer Nelson of St. Joe’s. He was twice names the national defensive player of the year by the National Association of Basketball Coached and was twice names Academic All-American of the year. He played on the USA Olympic team, winning a bronze medal in Athens, Greece. And of course, he helped us win a national title in 2004, and was honored as the “most outstanding player” at the Final Four. Meka was the number-two pick in the 2004 NBA draft—and not surprisingly, was named the NBA Rookie of the Year.
