THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601280295
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Hey Ademola Okulaja, you guarded Tim Duncan for eight long minutes, hit a 3-pointer that brought your team all the way back from an 18-point deficit, and then basked in the cheers of 21,000 North Carolina fans after the Tar Heels' 65-59 win over Wake Forest on Saturday.
Was this the most pressure-packed game of your young career?
The North Carolina freshman considered the question.
``You mean in the United States?''
You want pressure, Okulaja said, try the Korac Cup. That's a European Club Championship. Alba, Okulaja's Berlin club team, won the Korac Cup last year, and Okulaja still counts it as his greatest sports thrill.
``The crowds were really loud,'' Okulaja said. ``We played once in Italy. I didn't hear one word. Coach had to hold up signs.
``And I mean for 40 minutes.''
Born in Nigeria, raised in Germany, Okulaja did not grow up watching American basketball, let alone ACC basketball. A January skirmish along Tobacco Road - a major event here - is apparently not enough to faze him.
Okulaja, 20, has shown all year that he's an uncommonly poised freshman, shooting 56 percent from the field, playing solid defense. Saturday, he was a key figure in North Carolina's climb out of an 18-point deep hole.
When North Carolina center Serge Zwikker left the game with 8:25 left - for good, it turned out - the 6-foot-8 Okulaja was assigned the task of guarding Duncan, Wake's 6-10 All-American. Duncan scored just four points the rest of the way.
``I wanted to push him out, so he'd have to face the basket,'' Okulaja said. ``Sometimes it worked, sometimes he left me standing there like a dummy.''
Okulaja had not faced Duncan before, but he says he's matched up against players who are Duncan's equal in Europe. Experienced overseas pros. Ex-NBA players.
``I'm not very good with names,'' he said. ``I don't know. Some guy from the Pistons?''
Some guy from the Pistons. Some future NBA lottery pick. What's the difference?
``Obviously Tim's a little taller,'' North Carolina's Dante Calabria said. ``But Oddy's a pretty strong dude.''
Even so, Calabria said: ``We were not going to leave him down there by himself. He'd get abused.''
Calabria, all of 6-5, helped Okulaja late by double-teaming Duncan whenever he caught the ball, forcing him to pass it.
Calabria also helped Okulaja with 2:24 left, finding the freshman open behind the 3-point line on the left wing.
``I tried to stay calm, like in practice, and take a regular 3-pointer,'' Okulaja said.
The ball swished through, giving North Carolina a 56-54 lead and bringing the Smith Center crowd to its feet.
It wasn't the loudest crowd Okulaja's ever heard, but hey, this is just the ACC.
Not the Korac Cup. by CNB