Only 17 years old, Jahlil Okafor was the second-youngest player on the squad. The roster featured the top talent around the country, yet Okafor made an impression on the rest.
In 2013, Okafor was named to USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team. He and Justise Winslow were the only high school players to make it. The rest were touted college players who had their sights set on the pros.
They traveled to Europe that summer for the FIBA games, a hungry group with many looking to capture the title before moving on to the NBA. They went undefeated and won the gold in a Finals game against Serbia.
“I remember how much fun we had together,” Okafor said. “We were going to another country, nobody spoke the language really. We just knew the guys on that team so we were really close.”
His teammates included current Sixer Jerami Grant and the Magic’s Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton. When the teams met Wednesday in Orlando, those who had competed with Okafor were not surprised by his NBA success. Okafor is averaging 17.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game as a rookie.
“He had a lot of skill,” said Payton, who was a junior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette then. “To be honest, I don’t remember him missing a shot. He was basically shooting hooks and had a lot of post moves, especially at such a young age.”
During that championship run, Okafor was efficient on the floor. He averaged 10.8 points, shot a team-high 77.2 percent (44 for 57) and pulled down 4.8 rebounds per game. Okafor was named to the All-Tournament Team with Gordon, Sixers 2014 draft pick Dario Saric (Croatia), Jazz guard Dante Exum (Australia) and Vasilije Micic (Serbia).
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Gordon, the tournament MVP, was a freshman at the University of Arizona at the time. He had known Okafor since they were 13 through other Team USA events, and saw his potential early on.
“He’s honestly been playing the same way since he’s a little kid,” Gordon said. “He was a very skilled big man, very, very talented. His ability to handle the ball stood out, how big his hands are and how he can manipulate the ball.”
There were even instances when Okafor made an impression with non-conventional big man skills.
“There were a couple times when he was almost dribbling like he was a guard," said Gordon. “That stood out to me.”
Being on the team was a learning experience for Okafor. At that time, he hadn’t committed to a school yet. He remembers his teammates arguing over which college program was better, and he and Winslow sat back and listened.
“I was like, ‘Wow, he’s young but he’s extremely talented,’” said Grant, who made the team as a sophomore at Syracuse, but did not play because of illness. “We didn’t know where he was going to school at the time, but I think he made a great choice in going to Duke.”
Okafor is one of eight players from the U19 team (counting Grant) currently in the NBA. Of those, five became lottery picks, including Okafor. Many of them still stay connected as they reach their goals of making it to the next level. Okafor referred to the group as “special,” and others agreed.
“It was a great team,” Grant said. “To have as many good people as we had, [their] personalities, I think that’s amazing. It speaks to the character of everybody on the team.”
Okafor, 20, is still one of the younger players in the NBA. But just as he did on the U19 team, he is showing his game is beyond his years.
“He’s killing it,” Gordon said. “I’m so happy for him and proud of him. He stepped up.”