Ademola Okulaja
Ademola Okulaja, born September 5, 1977 in Berlin, West Germany, is a German professional basketball player. The 6' 9", 235-lb. forward played college basketball in the United States at North Carolina and flirted briefly with the NBA before moving on to a successful international professional basketball career in Europe.
Collegiate Career
Okulaja played college basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1995 to 1999. During his senior season, he was named MVP of the Tarheel basketball team, and won a spot on the 1995 All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team.
Professional Career
Okulaja has played professionally for a variety of Euroleague teams, including ALBA Berlin in Germany (1999-2000), and CB Girona (2000-2001), Barcelona (2001-2002), Unicaja Malaga (2003) and Pamesa Valencia (2004-2005) in Spain.[1] His ALBA Berlin team won the 1999-2000 German National Championship. In 2002, he won the award for "Most Spectacular Player" at the Spanish All-Star Game.[2]
Okulaja is also an experienced member of the Germany national basketball team. He has played with the team in the European Championships in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001.
Trivia
- Okulaja, who played college ball in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was a teammate of former Raleigh Cougars superstar Chuck Kornegay on the Spanish Euroleague team Unicaja Malaga during the 2002-2003 season.[3]