Okafor's dad proud of son's most-outstanding tourney

SAN ANTONIO -- Emeka Okafor powered inside, slammed home a rebound and got the Connecticut cheering section to go crazy.\nAt the center of everything, Okafor put on an All-American performance in the biggest game of his life, punctuating it with that rim-shaking dunk late in Monday night's 82-73 win over Georgia Tech for the NCAA championship.\nAnd somehow, up in the stands, Pius Okafor managed to stay relaxed. With fans around him standing and shouting, he politely applauded his son's stuff while 10 other family members looked on.\n"I'm very calm," Okafor's father said in the closing minutes. "I'm so proud of him and so excited that he's playing at this level."\nOh, and this from Dad: "He's played better than this."\nMaybe, but certainly not in a game of this magnitude.\nThe most dominant player in college basketball was picked as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring 24 points and getting 15 rebounds.\nOkafor raised his arms high after corralling the final carom. He controlled the glass at both ends by setting up shots on offense and altering attempts on defense.\n"It was a great season," the 6-foot-10 center said. "We had our ups and down. This moment makes it all worthwhile."\n"We came out and snuck by Duke. Then we came out and grabbed the national title," he said.\nBehind Okafor, it was never as close as the end result indicated as UConn won its second crown in six seasons. The Huskies' 15-point lead was the biggest in an NCAA title game in 37 years, and Okafor never let Tech get near until the outcome was decided.\nThe Yellow Jackets simply had no answer for him, despite trying to give 7-foot-1 Luke Schenscher as much double-team help as they could.\nTech tried to go at him, hoping to get him in foul trouble as Duke did in the semifinals. Okafor picked up his second foul just five seconds before halftime and it looked as if he got No. 3 only 2 and-a-half minutes into the second half.\nBut as Okafor slammed his hands in frustration, the officials said the foul was on Josh Boone.\nIt was that kind of night for Okafor -- everything went his way.\nOkafor will get his finance degree next month with a 3.8 grade-point average. He's expected to be among the top picks in the NBA draft in June.\nStill a junior, Okafor was met by chants of "One more year! One more year," by Huskies fans when he stepped up to cut down the net.\nAfter growing up in war-torn Nigeria, Pius Okafor said he was most proud that his son needed only three years to earn a college degree. As for his son's basketball talent, "I knew he'd be good, but not that good," he said after the game.\nConfetti cannons shot off after the game and Okafor made his way to the podium to collect his prizes. In the stands, his dad was finally beaming.\n"This is the American dream come true," Pius Okafor said.