Okafor vs. Kaminsky: An Epic Battle for Bragging Rights and the NCAA Title

INDIANAPOLIS — Shortly after Duke's 20-point blowout of Michigan State in Saturday's NCAA semifinal, a gaggle of reporters waiting outside the locker room got an earful from a relative of the Blue Devils' top player.

Emeka Okafor, the uncle of freshman Jahlil Okafor, apparently disagreed with the media's choice of Frank Kaminsky as The Associated Press National Player of the Year. The race really wasn't close, as Kaminsky received 58 of 65 votes.

As for Okafor?

"Five votes!" his uncle barked. "Five votes! I know there are some of you writers back here that didn't vote for him. Did you see him just dominate out there?"

The needling quickly turned playful, though, as Jahlil Okafor's father, Chucky, stepped in and made light of the situation, agreeing to a mock interview with Emeka as cameras rolled and reporters chuckled.

"Yes," Chucky responded to a question, "I'm the father of Jahlil Okafor, who should be National Player of the Year."

Okafor's supporters may have a better case Monday night.

But they could also be rendered speechless.

In what promises to be an epic tilt, the 2015 NCAA title game at Lucas Oil Stadium will not only feature two of the nation's top teams in Duke and Wisconsin but also college basketball's two best players in Okafor and Kaminsky.

A 6'11", 270-pound freshman, Okafor is expected to go either first or second in this summer's NBA draft. The 7-foot, 234-pound Kaminsky is a senior and surefire lottery pick who could hardly get off the bench during his first two years with the Badgers.

Still, while some people may use Monday's game to determine who is the best, Okafor and Kaminsky said they'd rather prove who boasts the best team.

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"They're better than just one player," Okafor said. "We have to deal with the entire Wisconsin team. We're going to have our hands full."

Duke knows that all too well.

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Mike Krzyzewski's squad beat the Badgers 80-70 in Madison on Dec. 3. But Wisconsin standout Sam Dekker (five points) was hobbled with an ankle injury, and the Blue Devils shot 65.2 percent.

"It'll be tough to do that again," guard Matt Jones said.

That's why the play of Okafor and Kaminsky will be so crucial to Monday's outcome, although it'd be a mistake to assume they'll guard one another throughout the entire game. A crafty player with decent handles and a soft touch, Kaminsky does a bulk of his scoring away from the paint. Okafor is more of a true back-to-the-basket center who punishes defenders with an array of low-post moves.

"It won't be a one-on-one matchup," Krzyzewski said. "(Wisconsin) does a lot of things where you're switching. It won't be one guy against another.

"I know how you like to do it in the papers, where it's like a boxing match each time. It never truly works out that way."

Kaminsky and Okafor both hail from Chicago, but their age difference—Okafor is 19; Kaminsky 22—kept them from competing against one another before they got to college.

Although both are first-team All-Americans and future NBA millionaires who have spent the past season in the national spotlight, Kaminsky and Okafor's paths to stardom couldn't be any more different.

The son of a former overseas player and small-college coach, Kaminsky is a late bloomer who cried when he was cut from his summer AAU team before his sophomore year of high school. His only major scholarship offer was from Wisconsin, where he averaged 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds as a freshman and sophomore.

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Whether it was in high school or during his early days as a Badger, Kaminsky often became peeved when players he knew he was better than received attention while he was ignored.

"That kind of irritated me," Kaminsky said, "but that's not what really drove me. What drove me is wanting to be the best. I got to see so many people around me have so much success in basketball. I just wanted it for myself. Basketball has always been my life, pretty much. I've never worked harder at something than I have at basketball."

His effort paid off.

After his first two seasons, people asked if he'd transfer from Wisconsin because of a lack of playing time. But following his junior year, when he led the Badgers to the Final Four, folks were concerned Kaminsky would bolt for the NBA draft, where he would've been a first-round pick.

The lure of chasing another NCAA title with his teammates, though, was too much for Kaminsky to pass up. His decision to return to school didn't go unnoticed by the player he beat out for the National Player of the Year Award.

"I have the utmost respect for Frank," Okafor said. "What he's done for college basketball is amazing. For him to give up going to the NBA, which he could've easily done last year, and come back for his senior year, that was really selfless on his part.

"It's paid off for him. He's in the NCAA title game. That's pretty cool. He had a plan when he came back to make it to the national championship game. That's pretty cool to see."

Okafor took the opposite journey to Monday's NCAA title game.

Labeled as the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2014, Okafor has been saddled with lofty expectations throughout most of his life. Some NBA scouts and executives have tabbed Okafor as the likely No. 1 pick in this summer's NBA draft, with almost no chance he'd fall below No. 2.

"He'll be one of the top big men in the NBA the day he enters the league," a scout told Bleacher Report Saturday.

Besides his versatile offensive skill set, the most impressive thing about Okafor is the level-headedness with which he's handled his celebrity. Flourishing amid such national glare would be tough for any player, much less a 19-year-old, but tragedy forced Okafor to mature more quickly than most.

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Okafor's mother, Dee Benton, died while having a coughing attack in their Oklahoma living room when he was nine. Okafor and his older sister were present when she passed.

Okafor moved to Chicago to live with his father, a former small-college basketball player who developed a close bond with his son and made sure he stayed on the path that led him to Monday's title game. Okafor said he made reaching this stage a goal back in 2012 when Chicago native Anthony Davis led Kentucky to the championship as a freshman before becoming the No. 1 pick in the draft three months later.

"I remember all the buzz going around the city about how well he was playing," Okafor said. "I knew then that I wanted to be in that moment."

Sunday morning, about 12 hours after their semifinal win over Michigan State, he said, Okafor woke up Quinn Cook, his roommate at the team hotel.

"We're playing for a national championship," he said. "Can you believe it?"

The scenario indeed seems surreal. Not just to Okafor, but also to Kaminsky, who is determined not to let the high-profile individual story distract him from his overall goal.

"That shouldn't be the focus," Kaminsky said. "It's Wisconsin versus Duke—two of the best teams in college basketball this year.

"The game isn't going to be decided by Jahlil or I. There are five people on the court for a reason, five for each team. It's going to be a battle for 40 minutes. The best team is going to prevail."

And maybe, just maybe, the best player.

Jason King covers college basketball for Bleacher Report.