PHILADELPHIA — Over 5,000 miles from their home nation of Nigeria, two of the nation’s best rim protectors will match up with their college careers on the line.
Tennessee’s Felix Okpara and Virginia’s Ugonna Onyenso are game changing defenders. Born within 207 days of one another in the same African country on the Gulf of Guinea, the defensive anchors will cross paths for the first time Sunday night with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
Their journeys are chalked with differences but also a perseverance and love for their home that binds them.
“Thank God for sports,” Onyenso said Saturday.
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The Similarities In How They Found Basketball
Soccer is the most popular sport in Nigeria. Both played soccer growing up before their height made basketball a more pertinent suitable path.
Oyenso was 12-years old when he started playing basketball, picking up the sport after his father passed away. Okpara began playing basketball when he was 13-years old and moved to America a year later to pursue a better future through basketball.
Both developed into successful college basketball players. The 7-foot Oyenso ranks second nationally in blocks and landed All-ACC Defensive Team. The 6-foot-11 Okpara is a versatile anchor of Tennessee’s stout defense, landing on the All-SEC Defensive Team.
The Differences In How They Got To America
Okpara is from Lagos, Nigeria’s largest and Africa’s second largest city with an estimation population between 17 and 21 million. Oyenso is from Owerri, the capital of Imo State, a much smaller city east of Lagos.
“Lagos is more like a New York kind vibe,” Okpara said. “Imo is just like every other place, it’s not as crowded or as populated as Lagos.”
Okpara is the son of a baker and property manager while Onyenso’ mother runs a story where she sells groceries and other goods.
“Just looking for somewhere to survive,” Onyenso said of finding work in Imo. “It’s like through sports and playing basketball. Hoping someone’s going to see them and scout them or something like that. But it’s really hard in Nigeria right now, so it’s like whatever it takes to survive.”
The duo found very different roads to college basketball in the United States. Okpara navigated a shady path through handlers and middlemen before finding a second family in Chattanooga, as Mike Wilson detailed for KNS last season.
Onyenso’s journey was “smooth”, playing in the NBA Global Academy in Africa before moving to America in 2022 to wrap up his high school career. While Onyenso found a more enviable path to college basketball, he emphasizes with the struggles Okpara faced and the challenges of making such a major life change.
“I mean, it’s understandable,” Onyenso said. “It’s really hard to trust people. I mean, you don’t really know much about the process. So people going to be in your ear. It’s all about being able to find someone who can trust.”
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Their Paths Have Never Crossed
Okpara describes Onyenso as “a friend of a friend type of deal.” The two have never met one another but are aware of each other through their similar journeys.
Oweri and Lagos are 325 miles away from one another, but Okpara’s parents are from Imo State and the Tennessee center would make the seven or eight hour drive east throughout his childhood to visit family.
Onyenso was the No. 9 center in the 2022 recruiting cycle according to 247sports. Okpara was the No. 14 center.
Onyenso signed with Kentucky out of high school and faced Tennessee four times in his first two collegiate seasons. Bur Okpara spent the first two years of his college career at Ohio State before transferring to Tennessee. By the time Okpara arrived in Knoxville, Oyenso was at Kansas State before transferring to Virginia for his senior season.
A Shared Pride In Giving Back
The two have never met one another and have had different journerys but share a love for their home nation and a desire to reward the sacrifices those close to them have made. Okpara uses his journey as motivation, giving him an edge that he plays with.
“I haven’t seen my family in a while, just knowing they sacrificed a lot for me to be here,” Okpara said. “And just knowing everything they do was out of love. And my path is just doing what I’m not supposed to do being myself and just playing with a chip.”
Onyenso returned to his home on a visit two years ago. He sees the pride that his story provides others and wants to go as far as he can on the hardwood to support his mother and younger siblings.
“I’m really grateful that I’m still looking to what I’m doing, because I have a goal,” Onyenso said. “Hopefully, I’m working towards achieving that goal. So I’m really proud of the kind of person, the kind of man I’m becoming. Like, I’m pretty sure my mom is proud of me back home. So I’m doing my best to represent.”
Okpara has not returned to Nigeria since coming to the United States in 2018, but he takes pride in representing his home country as he looks to be apart of a second straight Tennessee team to make the Sweet 16.
“Just me bringing that respect back to Nigeria, just putting Nigeria back on the map,” Okpara said. “It’s everything.”
