James Okello (born 26 January 1990) is a Ugandan

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, who plays for

City Oilers City Oilers is a basketball club based in Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda. The team competes in the Ugandan National Basketball League (NBL), where it has won eight championships, the most in league history. The Oilers play in the Basketball Africa Leagu ...

and the

Uganda national basketball team The Uganda national basketball team represents Uganda in international basketball competitions. It is administrated by the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA). Uganda made its debut at the FIBA Africa Championship at its 2015 ...

Early and personal life

While his father was polygamous, James Okello was the sixth of nine children to his mother.Mister City Oilers!
John Vianney Nsimbe (

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

), 13 February 2020. Accessed 29 June 2021. In school, besides

, he was involved in athletics (as a sprinter) and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. Okello’s sporting efforts especially in basketball right through school earned him a full scholarship at Crane High School for five years. In 2010, he received his degree there. In November 2013, when James Okello was right in the middle of the national playoffs, his father died. Henceforth, James Okello took care of the family. He has a

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

Procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, Service (economics), services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agenc ...

from

Makerere University Business School Makerere University Business School (MUBS) is the school of business of Makerere University, Uganda's oldest university. MUBS provides business and management education at the certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Location ...

. Uganda's Rugby national team star Phillip Wokorach is Okello’s step brother. They both wear the jersey number 15. When Okello won the 2019

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

, Wokorach posted on social media that "Number 15 rules the nation."

Club career

James Okello was recruited by the

in 2012. This was on the recommendation of Okello's high school coach, Justus Mugisha, who, as of early 2020 has worked as an assistant coach for the Oilers. In 2019, Okello was voted the Uganda Sports Press Association male basketball player of the year. That was before he inspired the Oilers to an unprecedented seventh successive National Basketball League (NBL) title. During the 2019–20 playoff finals with

UCU Canons UCU Canons is an Ugandan basketball club based in Kampala. The team is officially part of the Uganda Christian University Uganda Christian University (UCU) is a private church-founded university administered by the Church of Uganda. It was the ...

, the Oilers were missing key players: Stephen Omony and

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n import Francis Azolibe. Also, Jonathan Egau did not play. Tony Drileba and Daniel Jjuuko played on pain killers. Yet, Okello insured that the Oilers’ winning run would not end as he led his team to a 4–3 series victory. During the 2018 playoff finals against the

Betway Power Power Basketball Club, for sponsorship reasons named Betway Power, is an Ugandan basketball team based in Kampala. The team was already active in the 1990s, as the Baptist Saints. In 1998, then named Black Power, they were one of the founding tea ...

, the Oilers lost game one 66–85. In the second game, by the end of the first quarter, Okello was bleeding, after his lower lip was deeply torn into two. Yet, he played through the pain and aided the Oilers’ 78–71 win. The Oilers later won the championship again on a 4–1 aggregate. No player has been at City Oilers longer than James Okello. Altogether, he helped the team earn seven National Championships.

National team career

He helped Uganda's national team win two Africa Zone Five championships in 2017 and 2018. Later, he was part of the team for the

AfroBasket 2021 qualification The AfroBasket 2021 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from January 2020 to July 2021, to determine the fifteen FIBA Africa nations who would join the automatically qualified host Rwanda at the AfroBasket 2021 final tourn ...

games against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

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.Okello optimistic ahead of AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers
Franklin Kaweru (

Kawowo Sports Kawowo Sports is an East African sports website based in Kampala, Uganda, that publishes digital sports content with a focus on local and regional information. It was founded by Joseph Owino in September 2011. Awards In 2017, kawowo.com was aw ...

), 10 February 2021. Accessed 29 June 2021.

Player profile

James Okello mostly plays the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

position, in some cases he has also played

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. Hamza Nyambogo, the former KIU Titans head coach stressed Okello's intangibles: “I do not know of any player today who puts their body on the line for their team like Okello does as though everything depends on it. Yet, in basketball sense, Okello never accepts defeat.”

BAL career statistics

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References

External links

FIBA Profile

Afrobasket.com Profile

RealGM Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okello, James 1990 births Living people Makerere University Business School alumni Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Kampala Ugandan men's basketball players City Oilers players