How an iPad, 5-on-0 drills earned Emmanuel Okorafor playing time for Louisville basketball

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Somewhere in the air — over Tennessee, maybe — Emmanuel Okorafor began his Louisville basketball education.

Thousands of feet up between Atlanta and Louisville, on the last of the four flights that whisked him from Senegal and the NBA Academy Africa to a new collegiate career with the Cardinals, the 6-foot-9 Nigerian stared at a screen and watched his new team take on Pittsburgh.

Okorafor didn’t know much about his future teammates in the white jerseys. He knew next to nothing about the plays they were running.

It seemed unlikely then that 10 days later he’d not only be suiting up for the Cards but scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds on the road in his debut at Notre Dame.

But it turns out Okorafor is a quick study.

“There's a lot for him to digest,” Louisville coach Kenny Payne said this week. “I wanted him to take time to see it all and digest it. And so what ended up happening is, every day that we did something together, either individually or as a team, I watched him get better every single day.”

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There was the energy Okorafor brought to practice. The way he communicated with his teammates on the court. The way he took an iPad to study Louisville’s offense and defense and “just drew up the plays,” Payne said.

“Kids don’t do that,” Payne said. “He did that.”

It’s that crash-course approach that prepared Okorafor — with barely a week of practice under his belt — to make his debut and have an impact Saturday against the Irish.

It was just the start of his career as a Card but the end of a whirlwind journey to the the court, starting in Sengal.

But first, paperwork

Jan 28, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Emmanuel Okorafor (34) controls the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Nate Laszewski (14) in the second half at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Emmanuel Okorafor (34) controls the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Nate Laszewski (14) in the second half at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Okorafor’s path to Louisville started with a scouting trip Payne and assistant coach Nolan Smith took to see him in Las Vegas, when NBA Academy Africa played in the Tarkanian Classic and NBA G League Winter Showcase.

But settling on the Cardinals as his collegiate choice was just the start.

Before he could put on the red and black, Okorafor had to get through a little red tape.

There are academic requirements, but the NBA Africa Academy has an educational component and is well-versed in the required curriculum. Still, Okorafor had to pass the NCAA Eligibility Clearance process.

Once he did that, Okorafor could be issued I-20 documentation for studying in the U.S.

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With that in hand, he had to visit the American embassy in Senegal to be issued the proper visa.

And he did all of that before 20 hours of flying, stretched out over three flights: Senegal to Paris, Paris to Atlanta, Atlanta to Louisville.

“He's been through a lot,” Payne said. “Getting here, going through the process of getting here, the academic piece, playing over in Africa, traveling around the world, getting settled, going through all the steps to get with the embassy. And then being thrust into a program that is high profile. Everybody's going to be watching.”

Given all that, Payne didn’t want to rush Okorafor onto the court.

That’s why he didn’t play in the first game after his arrival, Louisville’s loss at Boston College on Jan. 25.

But while he stayed on the bench at game time, Okorafor was proving — to coaches and teammates — that he belonged.

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‘A willing learner’

That process began in practice, where Okorafor made waves early with his energy and enthusiasm.

“He's just like a workhorse, man,” teammate Mike James said. “Like, he doesn't stop moving, he doesn't stop talking. He's all over the place — trying to get blocks, rebounds. Just a high-energy guy, high-energy big.”

Cards forward JJ Traynor called Okorafor “a willing learner,” and that more than anything might have driven his early debut. As Payne watched him in early practices, he said, “Wow, this kid may be ready to play a few minutes.”

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Payne publicly had been noncommittal early about when — or even if — Okorafor would play this season.

But in his first game at Notre Dame, he logged 18 minutes. Starters Jae’Lyn Withers at power forward and Sydney Curry at center played 16 apiece.

That was “not at all” surprising, assistant coach Danny Manning said, “just based upon the intangibles that we see on the practice court.”

“He's trying to get caught up with what we're trying to do offensively, defensively, adjust to the new environment that he's in,” Manning said. “But he's been a sponge every day. He comes in, he's always wanting to learn, wanting to pick things up. And you can tell by the first time we put him out on the court at Notre Dame, he's grasped the concept of some things very well.”

Okorafor set hard screens and rolled to the basket. He didn’t always finish around the rim, but he always worked for position. He didn’t get every rebound in his area, but he fought for them all.

He plays with a kind of energy “I feel like we’ve been missing all year,” Louisville freshman Kamari Lands said.

Payne often has lamented Louisville's lack of energy, of competitive fight. It's among the reasons the Cards lost 19 of their first 21 games.

But the appeal of Okorafor is about more than just effort. It’s the way he studies plays.

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And, Payne said, it's the small, instinctive things he does that not all of Louisville’s big men do.

"Probably the thing that was more enlightening to me was his instinctive way of catching passes,” Payne said. “Some of those passes that he caught and finished weren't great passes. He caught them, gathered them and put them in the basket. I like that. I'm a believer that good scorers, good players, good bigs, they're not expecting the pass to be on the money every time. And so he showed me that.”

The hope is he can show more moving forward.

‘He’s probably gonna elbow you’

Louisville's Emmanuel Okorafor (34) tries to keep the ball away from Notre Dame's Cormac Ryan, left, and Dom Campbell (13) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Caterina)
Louisville's Emmanuel Okorafor (34) tries to keep the ball away from Notre Dame's Cormac Ryan, left, and Dom Campbell (13) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Caterina)

Even if Okorafor was on the Notre Dame scouting report, there wasn’t much to see.

The Irish couldn’t scout game film of the freshman suited up for Louisville because it didn’t exist. As he plays more, ACC opponents will get a feel for him. They’ll learn his tendencies and work to take away his preferred moves.

“Each game is gonna get a little bit harder for him just because there's more intel on him as a player,” Manning said. “The thing for us that we're gonna tell him is, you just go out and you try to execute our game plan, you play with the same effort and energy each possession and then we'll go from there.”

The message is if Okorafor keeps playing hard, he’ll keep playing.

That goes for the rest of the Cardinals, too.

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Payne said initially some teammates laughed at Okorafor’s intensity in practice. He was “yelling and screaming and playing with intensity” in five-on-zero drills, against no defenders.

It’s a cultural difference, Payne said, a case of Okorafor not taking practices or plays for granted the way his American teammates might.

“It may be funny to you until you got to play against it,” Payne said. “And then you see, he's bringing an intensity to it that forces you to play hard or else he's probably gonna elbow you in the mouth or hit you in the nose or hit you across the chest or do something and be vocal about it. I liked that part of it. I like that part of it. I like for our guys to see that.”

And he’d like them to learn from it.

Payne hopes when injured forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield returns the sophomore will understand, “I need to bring a different energy now,” as a result of Okorafor raising the bar.

Payne doesn’t expect Okorafor to lower it.

Getting to Louisville was a long journey. But the Cards expect big steps are still ahead.

“I think once he gets his feet under him and really starts to understand the game and get in the flow of things and how we run offense, I think he'll be very, very good,” James said. “He’s young. He just got here. He's, what, 18? So he's got a lot of time to grow. I think he's gonna be a special player.”

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brett Dawson at mdawson@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @BDawsonWrites.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Emmanuel Okorafor proved himself to Kenny Payne, Louisville basketball