http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/108788941454650.xml OLDER AND WISER At 21, Emeka Okafor is a geezer compared with other prospects in the draft, but he's the safest bet Tuesday, June 22, 2004 By William Kalec Staff writer In a draft polluted with impatient teenagers unable to wait any longer for their likeness to grace a poster, Emeka Okafor is the antithesis poster child -- an old man by today's crib-to-center-court trend. He's 21, with a bad back, a degree in finance from Connecticut, and the type of street cred better suited to endorse penny loafers than sneakers. What you see is what you get -- so traditional, so blah. A shot-blocker, a champion, an honors student, a decent inside scorer, a 6-foot-9 space-eater with arms that stretch from Storrs to West Hartford. There is no mystery box, there is no suspense to see what rests behind door No. 2, no real risk, but also no anticipation to wonder, "What might be, someday?" That's the situation facing the Orlando Magic, which has the No. 1 pick in Thursday's NBA draft. Do you take the sure thing or do you roll the dice and take the box, not knowing what could happen with a high-schooler such as Shaun Livingston or Dwight Howard? Well trained in giving generic answers that keep general managers happy and the media frustrated, Okafor has steered clear of the top-pick controversy, deflecting any sense of entitlement that productivity should carry over potential. "One, two, three, whatever," Okafor said. "If I'm not the No. 1 pick, I'm not going to cry about it. There's 30 guaranteed spots, and I'm one of them." It's hard to think Okafor won't be David Stern's favorite handshake Thursday night -- one of the commissioner's last great hopes to reverse the baby boom phenomenon of recent years, a topic he's spoken out against. Okafor, the consensus college player of the year, never asked for this burden, to show sometimes the spoils go to those who wait, but he will be forced to join the fight in the ever-shrinking brigade that includes Shane Battier and Tim Duncan. If history is any clue, Okafor won't duck the challenge. He learned this, in part, from his father, Pius. In 1976, Pius left Nigeria, a country crippled by a civil war in which Pius fought at the same age kids in America now declare for the NBA draft. With $400 to his name, Pius moved to Grambling, enrolling in classes for a year until the money ran out. Unable to find work in Louisiana, he moved to Houston and settled on a minimum-wage salary that funded his education at Texas Southern. "He watched us as a family work very hard to succeed," said Pius, currently pursuing an advanced degree from a University of Missouri satellite campus. "From what I went through, coming over here, it showed him that anybody can make it in life." Connecticut didn't seriously recruit Okafor -- who was not a top-50 prospect -- until late in his senior year. As a freshman, he accelerated his curriculum and his game, beginning by taking a course load that would have him out of Storrs in three years and started immediately, averaging eight points and nine rebounds. "I found my groove early at Connecticut and kept on going," Okafor said. The next year Okafor averaged a double-double and made everybody's academic All-American team as he continued working to attain a 3.8 grade-point average. If Okafor was like everyone else -- like all these dribbling, dunking mystery boxes -- he probably would have been a lottery pick. Instead, he came back for his junior season just so he could spend March in a whirlpool, nursing a nagging back as the Huskies secured their second national title and so Okafor could finish a legacy that starts at Gampel Pavilion and stretches to the business school on Hillside Road. His accomplishments are right there, in front of league executives, not hidden behind any curtain. "I've proven myself," Okafor said. "I think a team should pick me, because I'm a hard worker, I'm mature. . . . I have no ego. I've never had an ego. I mesh well, and I just want to win. "I love working hard. That's what's gotten me to where I am. Now that I've gotten where I am, I still remember what got me here." . . . . . . . William Kalec can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3413. --

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