2025-26 Utah Men's Basketball Roster
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Jersey Number 32
James Okonkwo
- Class:
- Fifth Year
- Position:
- Foward
- Height:
- 6-8
- Weight:
- 245
- Hometown:
- Maidenhead, England
- High School:
- Furze Platt Senior School
- Prev School:
- Akron / North Carolina / West Virginia
2025-26 (5TH YEAR)
2023-24 (North Carolina)
2022-23 (West Virginia)
2021-22 (West Virginia)
High School / Prep
Personal
- Started in 22 of the 29 games he played in his lone season with Utah
- Sat out first 3 games of the season due to NCAA rules
- Posted a team-high 28 blocks to go with his 5.4 rebounding average
- Was 1-of-3 players in the Big 12 to record 8 offensive rebounds in a single-game off the bench and 1-of-9 players to do it nationally
- Made his Utah debut vs. Sam Houston (11/15) off the bench with 7 rebounds and went 1-for-2 at the line
- Pulled down 10 boards off the bench against Purdue Fort Wayne (11/18) – 8 from the offensive glass
- Season-high 8 points against Grand Canyon (11/25) in Acrisure Series opener to go with 8 rebounds
- Made his first start as a Ute against Mississippi State (12/13)
- Recorded 13 rebounds against BYU (1/10) at home to go with 4 points and 2 assists
- Season-high 14 rebounds and 4 blocks to go with 4 points against Arizona State (2/4)
- Saw action in all 35 games and started in 28 of them at Akron
- Averaged 6.9 points with a team-high 7.2 rebounds to go with 34 blocks and 19 steals
- Finished the season with 5 double-doubles and had 9 games with double-digit boards
- Was second in the MAC with 252 total rebounds and fourth in rebounds per game (7.2)
- Also ranked No. 2 in defensive rebounds (157), No. 3 in offensive rebounds (95), No. 5 in blocks (34) and No. 6 in blocks per game (1.0) among MAC players
- Made his debut at Arkansas State in the season-opener, scoring 5 points with 12 rebounds
- Followed up with his first double-digit game, posting 10 points with 5 rebounds and 3 blocks against Ohio Wesleyan
- Recorded a career-high 17 points and 5 rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting vs. Northern Kentucky off the bench
- Pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds with 12 points for his second-career double-double vs. SUNY Brockport
- Tied his career-high in rebounds with 16 boards and 10 points vs. Jackson State off the bench
- Followed up with another double-double the very next game at Princeton with 15 points and 10 boards
- Tied his career-high with 17 points at Eastern Michigan to go with 5 rebounds
2023-24 (North Carolina)
- Was the third Tar Heel men’s basketball player from England, joining London’s Steve Bucknall (1985-89) and Durham’s Neil Fingleton (2001-02)
- Saw limited action off the bench with 15 appearances
- Made debut as a Tar Heel against Radford
- Season-high 7 points against Charleston Southern with 4 rebounds
- Scored 4 points against Syracuse with 4 rebounds
2022-23 (West Virginia)
- Played in 31 games, averaging 11.0 minutes per game
- Averaged 2.5 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting 57.4-percent from the field
- Led WVU with 22 blocks
- Had five points and six rebounds versus Kansas at Big 12 Championship
- Pulled down five rebounds against Texas Tech at Big 12 Championship
- Finished with four points and nine rebounds vs. Iowa State
- First-career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Oklahoma
- Recorded a career-high 10 rebounds to go with five points and two blocks at Texas Tech
- Had four points, six rebounds and two blocks against Kansas
2021-22 (West Virginia)
- Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team
- Played in three games, averaging 3.7 minutes per contest
- Played five minutes and had two points and two rebounds in his first collegiate game against Radford
- Missed the first seven games of the season with a foot injury
High School / Prep
- Came to the United States in August 2020
- Attended Beckley Prep IJN in Beckley, West Virginia, for coach Justin Dempsey
- Originally excelled as a tennis player in England
- Graduated from Furze Platt Senior School in Maidenhead, England
- Played in limited games at Beckley Prep IJN due to a broken finger and COVID-19
- Played for All-Ohio Red team in AAU basketball
Personal
- Son of Cyril and Sharon Okonwko
- Has an older brother, Oliver
- Has a younger brother, Alexander
- Was an outstanding tennis player in his youth, playing 8 years of competitive tennis and 3 years of soccer
- Older brother, Oliver, played tennis at Iowa (2018-21) and Illinois (2022-24)
- Younger brother, Alexander, is a junior on the Ohio State men’s tennis team
- Played for Great Britain’s U20 team in the 2023 Division B European Championships in Macedonia
- Led Great Britain in scoring (12.1 ppg), rebounding (9.9 rpg) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg) in seven games
- Received his bachelor's in organizational supervision at Akron in spring of 2025
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