Chuma Okeke

Chukwuma Julian "Chuma" Okeke was born in 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Chuka Okeke, is from Nigeria. The 6-foot-8 forward attended Westlake High School in his hometown Atlanta. As a junior, Okeke led the Lions to the Georgia Class 6A state championship. During his senior season at Westlake, Okeke averaged 24.4 points, 15.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals. At the end of the campaign, Okeke was named Mr. Georgia Basketball by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club. In 2017, he was invited to the USA Basketball U19 World Cup tryouts. As a sophomore at Auburn, Okeke tore the ACL in his left knee during the Tigers' 2019 Sweet 16 NCAA tournament game but still declared in May for the 2019 NBA Draft. His favorite movie is Gridiron Gang, and his favorite food is Philly cheesesteak. His full first name, Chukwuma, means "God Knows." Chuma Okeke played two seasons of college ball at Auburn University. During his 2017-18 freshman season, Okeke appeared in 34 games off the bench and averaged 7.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.7 blocks in nearly 22 minutes per game. His 197 total rebounds was the most by an Auburn freshman since Jeff Moore in 1984-85. As a sophomore in 2018-19, Okeke started all 38 games in which he played. The forward posted 12.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks over 29.1 minutes per game. His 69 steals ranked second in the SEC. Okeke's Tigers made it to the Sweet 16 of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, where they defeated North Carolina. But during the game, Okeke tore the ACL in his left knee. That May, Okeke declared for the 2019 NBA Draft and was drafted 16th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2019 NBA Draft.