Former UNC basketball player Ademola Okulaja dies at 46
Former North Carolina men’s basketball player Ademola Okulaja has died at age 46, the university confirmed on Tuesday.
Okulaja played from 1995-99 in the same recruiting class that included Vince Carter and Antwan Jamison. They would advance to two Final Fours including during legendary coach Dean Smith’s final season and the first two of coach Bill Guthridge’s tenure.
Shammond Williams, Okulaja’s teammate for three seasons at UNC, called him an “outstanding individual” who was extremely loyal.
“If he was with you, he was with you, he didn’t fluctuate from that,” said Williams, who currently serves as an assistant coach for Old Dominion’s women’s basketball team. “He was just an outstanding person. He’s a person that you want to go to war with, just a selfless individual who sacrificed his game for the greater good of the team.”
The 6-foot-9 forward was born in Nigeria, but his family moved to West Berlin, Germany when he was still a toddler. It was in Germany where former guard Henrik Rodl, who played on UNC’s 1993 national title team, saw Okulaja play and suggested to Smith and Guthridge that he may be a good fit.
He was a 1,000-point scorer in his career with the Tar Heels. His best season statistically came as a senior when he averaged 13.9 points and 8.4 rebounds. It earned him first team All-ACC honors and he was named the Most Valuable Player as voted on by the team.
Okulaja played professionally in Europe and would also represent Germany in two FIBA World Cup tournaments. In 2002, playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki, Okulaja helped Germany win a bronze medal in Indianapolis.
He didn’t get the chance to star with Germany when it qualified for the 2008 Olympics. Doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his spine that year and it precipitated the end of his basketball career.
It’s what made Okulaja pivot toward his life after basketball. He earned a master’s degree in sports marketing while battling cancer. With it in remission, he become a sports agent and had Dennis Schroder, who currently plays for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, among his clients.
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Former UNC basketball player Ademola Okulaja dies at 46."