Michael F. O'Koren (born February 7, 1958) is an American

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 ...

coach and former player and broadcaster originally from

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, serving under head coach

Eddie Jordan Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championship ...

. A graduate of The University of North Carolina, where he played under

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

, O'Koren was a first round draft pick of the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and played for the Nets and

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in a career that ended in 1988. After his retirement, O'Koren joined the Nets' broadcast team and remained there until 1999, when he joined

Don Casey Lawrence Donald Casey (born June 17, 1937) is an American former professional and collegiate basketball coach. He has coached two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, the Los Angeles Clippers and the New Jersey Nets—each for a season ...

's staff as an assistant coach. He returned to Washington in 2003 when Eddie Jordan, with whom he had served in New Jersey, hired him to be the associate head coach of the Wizards. O'Koren also served as an assistant under Jordan with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in the 2009–10 season. After he was let go by the 76ers, O'Koren returned to broadcasting and called high school games for

FiOS1 FiOS1 was a news-based pay television network that was carried by Verizon Fios in the New York metropolitan area. Launched on June 22, 2009 in Long Island and New Jersey and later on May 28, 2014 in the Lower Hudson Valley, FiOS1 provided hyper- ...

New Jersey before Jordan hired him to serve on his staff at Rutgers in 2014.

High school career

O'Koren attended

Hudson Catholic Regional High School Hudson Catholic Regional High School is a regional four-year co-educational University-preparatory Catholic high school in Jersey City, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The school was established in 1964 by the Roman Catholic Archd ...

in Jersey City.

College career

On a talent-laden 1977 UNC team as a freshman he averaged 13.9 points per game, scored 21 points against Duke in the ACC championship game and had 31 in the NCAA semi-finals against

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

. As a sophomore his scoring rose to 17.8. He scored in double figures every game and was second nationally with a 64.3 field goal percentage. In 1979, Carolina was picked to finish third or lower in all the 1979 ACC pre-season polls. But, Dudley Bradley, the nation's best defensive player, and Al Wood, one of the top shooters in the college game, each improved their play on the opposite ends of the court. With O'Koren already proven as a fine all-around player, the Tar Heels posted a 23–6 record, tied for first place in the league's regular-season race, swept the ACC Tournament and finished third nationally in the final coaches' poll. O'Koren was at his best in the biggest games. He grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds, scored 17 points, handed out seven assists and had four steals in a 74-68 homecourt win over Duke. He also held Gene Banks scoreless in the second half of that game. He finished with 22 points and five assists in a double overtime win over Virginia. In the ACC Tournament finals against Duke he had 18 points and 11 rebounds. He scored Carolina's final 10 points that day in a 71–63 victory. As of 2013, O'Koren is the only player in North Carolina history to have scored at least 1,500 points (1,765), 800 rebounds (815) and 300 assists (348). He also had 183 steals and a career field goal percentage of 57.2.

Professional playing career

In his NBA career, O'Koren played in 407 games and scored a total of 3,355 points. His best year as a professional came during the 1981–82 season as a member of the Nets, appearing in 80 games and averaging 11.4 ppg. In 1985, an analysis performed by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

crowned O'Koren the NBA's "Mr. Average", based on the league's players' ages, heights, weights and statistics (but not race; O'Koren was white in the predominantly-black NBA). When informed he was the NBA's average man, O'Koren said: "I don't consider myself above average or below anyone. I guess that's what makes me average."

Coaching career

O'Koren was an assistant coach under

for over a decade: first from to with the

and to with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

. In the season, O'Koren was an associate head coach with the

again under Jordan.

References

External links

Basketballreference.com page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoren, Mike 1958 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games New Jersey Nets assistant coaches New Jersey Nets announcers New Jersey Nets draft picks New Jersey Nets players North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philadelphia 76ers assistant coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball coaches Small forwards Washington Bullets players Washington Wizards assistant coaches