University of Connecticut Athletics
Okafor Officially Named to the US National Team to Play in the 2004 Summer Olympics
7/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (July 8 ) -- Former University of Connecticut men's basketball star Emeka Okafor has been named to the US National Men's Basketball Team that will participate in the 2004 Summer Olympics. USA Basketball also added five of the United States top young talents, including three who boast of prior USA Basketball experience, USA Basketball officially announced today the addition of NBA standouts Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets), Carlos Boozer (Cleveland Cavaliers), Lamar Odom (Miami Heat), Emeka Okafor (Charlotte Bobcats / University of Connecticut) and Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) to the 2004 roster.
USA Basketball also officially confirmed that five previously named USA Team members, Mike Bibby (Sacramento Kings), Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets), Karl Malone (Los Angeles Lakers), Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets), and Jermaine O’Neal (Indiana Pacers), have withdrawn from the ‘04 team because of injuries or personal reasons.
The naming of the five players raises the USA player roster to the official 12-man limit. The talented USA squad is scheduled to represent the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Aug. 13-29. The player selections were made by the USA Basketball Senior National Team Committee.
The 2004 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team will open their pre-Olympic training on July 26 at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and will spend the 18 days leading up to the 2004 Athens Olympics training in Jacksonville (July 26-31); Cologne, Germany (Aug. 1-4); Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro (Aug. 5-6); Istanbul, Turkey (Aug. 7-12), and will play a total of six exhibition games.
“These five guys are the future of USA Basketball,” said USA and Detroit Pistons head coach Larry Brown. “I’m disappointed that so many of the guys who helped us qualify for the Olympics last summer in Puerto Rico won’t have the chance for an Olympic gold medal. These are five great additions and based on their seasons they’ve earned the right to be on the team. Last summer’s qualifying team played as a team and I’m confident that this new group will help us continue to play the right way.”
“USA Basketball appreciates the enthusiasm these five players bring to the team and we are looking forward to continuing the outstanding legacy the United States has built in men’s basketball in the Olympics,” stated USA Basketball President Tom Jernstedt. “Like the players before them who represented the U.S. in prior Olympic Games with such distinction, these 12 players and four coaches will become part of the United States’ extraordinary tradition of outstanding Olympic basketball teams.”
"This team has the potential to be one of the most exciting and versatile teams that USA Basketball has ever assembled for the Olympics,” said Stu Jackson, Chair of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team Committee. “Our team's youth, athleticism and skill level will give us an opportunity to perform well at the Olympic Games and hopefully return home with the gold medal.”
The five players named today join the seven players previously named to the USA Team which includes: Tim Duncan, the NBA’s 2002 and 2003 Most Valuable Player; Allen Iverson, a perennial All-Star and the NBA’s 2001 MVP: LeBron James, 2004 Rookie of the Year; Richard Jefferson, a member of the 2003 USA Olympic Qualifying team; Stephon Marbury, 2001 and 2003 NBA All-Star; Shawn Marion, 2003 NBA All-Star and two-time USA team member; and Amaré Stoudemire, 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Brown, who won a gold medal as a player at the 1964 Olympics and most recently led the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA title, is head coach of the 2004 USA Basketball Senior National Team and will draw on his recent international head coaching experiences that saw him lead USA teams in 1999 and 2003 to 10-0 records and Olympic qualifying berths. Assisting Brown on the USA bench is San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who owns a pair of NBA championships (1999 and 2003), and a pair of very successful collegiate head mentors in Clemson University’s (S.C.) Oliver Purnell and University of North Carolina’s Roy Williams.
Anthony, Boozer and Okafor all possess previous USA Basketball experience, upping the number of ‘04 Senior Team members who have prior USA Basketball experience to nine (Anthony, Boozer, Duncan, Iverson, James, Jefferson, Marbury, Marion, and Okafor).
As a team, the 2004 USA Team’s average age will be 23.6 years old at the start of the Olympics, the youngest yet of the four Olympic teams comprised of NBA players. In fact, the 2004 team is younger than seven (2000–27.7, 1996-29.4, 1992-29.0, 1964-23.6, 1956-23.8, 1948-24.4 and 1936-25.4) of the previous 15 U.S. Olympic teams.
EMEKA OKAFOR
“I am flattered to be selected for the United States Olympic Team and it is an honor I will always treasure,” said Okafor. “I enjoyed representing our country at the Pan Am Games last year and I jumped at the opportunity after receiving this invitation. This is a chance of a lifetime, to be an Olympian at 21 years old. I can’t wait to learn from coach Brown, the rest of the coaching staff and the other great players on the team. This year has been an incredible one for me, winning the NCAA Championship, being the first-ever pick by the Charlotte Bobcats and now the Olympics.”
Okafor will be back in the USA’s red, white and blue uniform for a second consecutive summer after leading the United States in the 2003 Pan American Games. Okafor paced the U.S. in scoring, averaging 12.0 ppg., while adding 2.7 rpg., a team high 1.4 bpg., and shooting 68.3 percent (2841 FG) from the floor.
The 6-10, 252-pound inside force led Connecticut as a junior in 200304 to a 336 overall record, the 2004 NCAA Championship, and the 2004 Big East Tournament title. Averaging 17.6 ppg., 11.5 rpg. (third in the NCAA), 4.1 bpg. (tied for first), he shot 59.9 percent (ninth in the NCAA) and also led NCAA with 24 doubledoubles. Named CoNational Player of the Year (along with Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph’s) by the NABC and one of only two players unanimously named AllAmerica First Team by the A.P., Okafor was also tagged as the 2004 Big East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
An early entry candidate for the 2004 NBA Draft after three collegiate seasons, he was selected in the first round as the No. 2 overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft by Charlotte, becoming the Bobcats’ first-ever draft selection.
In three seasons at UConn, he helped lead the Huskies to an overall record of 8323 for a .783 winning percentage, and led his teams to the 2004 NCAA Championship, the 2003 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and 2002 NCAA Elite Eight, two Big East Conference regular season titles or cochampionships (2002 and 2003), and two Big East Tournament championships (2002 and 2003).
He finished his career averaging a double-double of 13.7 ppg. and 10.5 rpg., and compiled 1,402 career points (14th alltime at UConn), 1,076 career rebounds (third alltime at UConn), and 441 blocked shots (4.28 bpg./ first alltime at UConn). He also ranks as Connecticut’s alltime career leader in field goal percentage shooting 59.0 percent.
Ranking as the seventh alltime leading shot blocker in NCAA history, Okafor holds Connecticut’s top three singleseason blocked shot totals, and he became only the fourth UConn player to ever surpass 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds
Also a stellar student who graduated with a degree in finance this past May after just three years, he was named in 2004 and 2003 a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America First Team, and was named the 2004 Academic All-America of the Year for the University Division.
