When Darlington Okerulu was a basketball player at Hudson Catholic in Jersey City, he quickly became one of the best all-around players in the area.
There was only one problem. Okerulu was considered a power forward and there aren’t many 6-foot-3 power forwards in major college basketball.
“I knew I was good enough to play (NCAA) Division I basketball,” said Okerulu, who now resides in Lyndhurst with his wife and two infant children. “I knew I also wanted to get a free education, so there was a level of frustration. I decided to just take the best opportunity that was out there.”
The opportunity to secure a college scholarship came after taking a trip to Providence with his AAU basketball team. At that tournament in Rhode Island, Okerulu was introduced to Sean Ryan, an assistant coach at St. Anselm College, a small private school in Manchester, New Hampshire.
“Sean said that he watched me all summer,” Okerulu said. “He said that he saw me at 6-foot-3 going up against 6-foot-11 guys. Coach Ryan made me feel so comfortable. I really was getting pretty insecure from people telling me that I wasn’t big enough or not good enough. That really motivated me. I started to carry a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I then started to use my size to my advantage.”
It turned out to a blessing for Okerulu.
“There was a spiritual element to the school,” Okerulu said of St. Anselm. “When I walked into the place, I felt at peace. It was hard to explain, but I knew it’s where I wanted to play. I knew that it was where I was supposed to be.”
Okerulu had an outstanding career at St. Anselm, graduating in 2006. He remains the all-time leader in rebounds at the school, collecting 953 rebounds over 119 games. He also finished his career with 1,343 points, which is also among the top scorers in the school’s history. Okerulu led the Hawks to consecutive Northeast-10 Conference championships in 2005 and 2006, the first league championships that the Hawks captured in a decade.
And on Feb. 19, Okerulu will take his right place of prominence, as he will gain induction into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame at a dinner at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. Okerulu will join four other former St. Anselm greats by having the Hall of Fame honor bestowed upon them that evening.
“I’ve had a lot of peaks and valleys in my life, but this might be the ultimate peak,” said Okerulu, whose parents were born in Nigeria, but he and his four siblings were raised solely by his mother, Kenechi, a nurse. “I can’t repay the school has given me, what the game of basketball has given me. I really wasn’t giving it (the Hall of Fame) a thought. When I got the call, I couldn’t believe it.”
Okerulu will share the evening with his wife, Melissa and his three-year-old twins Charlie and Bianca.
“I told my mother that I could get a scholarship to college,” Okerulu said. “I didn’t expect to be the all-time leading rebounder at the school. I just took things as they came. All I wanted was to be remembered. Now, people are going to walk through the hallways of the building and see my name on the wall. It’s my legacy and I’m proud of that.”
Okerulu, now 38 years old, said that there “is a level of peace” that comes from a job well done.
“There’s a sense of accomplishment,” Okerulu said. “Even if I never pick up a basketball ever again. I was able to make something of myself.”
Okerulu said he prided himself in one particular aspect of the game.
“I took a lot of pride in playing defense,” Okerulu said. “I wanted my coaches to realize that if I was out there on the court, I was going to play defense. I was going to make it hard on you to score. I figured that even if I didn’t score, I could make an impact on the game with my defense. When I got to college, I think I was physically prepared to play defensively. It came real natural to me.”
Okerulu has also spent time coaching and mentoring youth players, helping college players reach the possibility of playing professionally overseas. So he’s still involved.
But in two weeks, it will be a night for Okerulu and his family to enjoy his career.
“It’s a time for reflection,” Okerulu said. “It’s a time for brotherhood. There was a sense of playing the game the right way. That’s what I tried to do. I always had the love and camaraderie for my teammates. I have nothing but respect for my teammates.”
And his teammates will get the chance to say they played with a Hall of Famer like Darlington Okerulu.
CAPTION
Lyndhurst resident Darlington Okerulu is poised to be inducted into the St. Anselm College Athletic Hall of Fame. Photo by Jim Hague
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”