Former McEachern hoops star, current NBA player returns to his community
· Yahoo Sports
Isaac Okoro remembers the first day of school. He remembers the anticipation of a new school year, the chance to catch up with friends and the opportunity to return for another year at McEachern High School.
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“Just laying out my clothes the night before school making sure that everything was clean like my clothes were ironed,” Okoro told WSB-TV’s Nelson Hicks. “Going to sleep just kind of thinking about how I was going to walk into school just fresh. You know hoping that my friends were in the same class as me. So, those days are long gone, but I still remember those days.”
Those days might be long gone, but they aren’t forgotten.
Okoro was a standout athlete at McEachern High School, where he was ranked as the second-best high school basketball recruit in Georgia in 2018. During his tenure, he led the basketball team to a perfect 32-0 record and the school’s first state championship. Following one year at Auburn University, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Okoro with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He now plays for the Chicago Bulls.
While Okoro now travels across the country playing the game he loves, he still hasn’t forgotten the people and places that helped get him there. The Isaac Okoro Foundation recently hosted a big event to say thanks.
“We’re here at my fourth annual Back to School Bash,” Okoro said. “We partnered here with Ron Anderson, the community center, where I basically grew up playing basketball at since I was very young. I mean, I used to be in here from early mornings to late nights. So just partnering up with them has meant so much to me knowing how pivotal they were in my part of growing up to my journey right now. So like I said, it’s my fourth annual Back To School Bash, just giving back to the kids. So it’s a good thing to do.”
Hundreds of children attended the bash to collect items for the upcoming semester and to meet the former McEachern star.
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“I know how I was when I was little, just being able to have a good backpack to go to the school with and also supplies,” Okoro said. “Also, you just, you know, you want to be fresh on your first day of school, so having the supplies and book bag was always a good feeling.”
In addition to providing supplies, Okoro encouraged the students to maintain a strong work ethic. He credited his current professional success to the habits he formed while still a student-athlete in Georgia.
“How I was working in high school is still how I am working now,” Okoro said. “You know, of course it is more intentional now, but I have always was a hard worker in high school and I am still a hard work now.”
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Okoro was a WSB-TV Athlete of the Week in 2018.