By Sam Omatseye

Yemi Nicholson delights in his rebounds. Diminutive Freddy Adu deploys his nimble feet to move the ball past those twice his height and, at times, twice his age. With his muscles, speed and instincts, Tamba Hali rattles quarterbacks and frustrates running backs. Within only of few weeks of play, Sam Gado has charmed many a cheese head. Jarome Iginla is turning pucks into goals as his teammates turned him into a captain.

These sports names have one thing in common. They all have African parents. They were either born in Africa and migrated to the United States or they were born in the United States and were nurtured to excel in peculiarly American sports. Adu came from Ghana, Hali from Liberia and Gado hails from Nigeria. Although born in the U.S., Nicholoson and Iginla have African parents.

“We are Yemi’s number one fan,” said Bola Nicholson, Yemi’s mother, who sports his jersey in every game, and is her son’s biggest cheerleader. Yemi rewarded her with a game ball last February, after rebounding the ball on the last play to seal his team’s victory over North Texas University. Yemi, who played center for the University of Denver, is now eligible for the next National Basketball Association draft.

The trend of Africans playing and excelling in American sports did not begin this year or last. But with the successes of a few pioneers in the past two decades, Africans have grown visible in the hundreds on many levels of Sports. In the NCAA football and basketball programs, the names are unmistakable, and they are also making forays into professional football, basketball and now soccer and hockey.

Nicholson is not the first player of African ancestry to play in Colorado. The Denver Nuggets warmed to Zaire-born Dikembe Mutombo in the 1990s who became not only a local celebrity but a national star.

Jayson Obazuaye, the guard for the University of Colorado basketball team, also has an African name. The prolific scorer was a factor in a new spurt of fan interest in the team until it fell in the Mountain West tournament to Texas A&M in March. Nigerian soccer star, Daniel Amokachi, moved over to the Colorado Rapids about five years ago. He did not make it to the team because he failed the physical examination.

Akeem Olajuwon, the two-time NBA most valuable player, hails from Nigeria and was dreaded by many a team in his prime with the Houston Rockets. The team also won the NBA championship, a glory it has not replicated since the Hall-of-Famer ebbed out of the game. Emeka Okafor, who now plays in the NBA for the Charlotte Bobcats, was the most valuable player of the NCAA a couple of years ago.

In football, Christian Okoye, popularly known as the “Nigerian nightmare,” was a pro-bowl running back for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1980s and 1990s. His presence and rumbles through defensive walls endeared him not only to Chiefs’ fans, but to many who loved the sport.

Parents tend to play a big role in spotting and developing their children’s talents. They devote time and resources to their children’s sport, since they have to distinguish themselves at the college level, as in the story of Nicholson, where the parents were just supporting their kid.

Willie Nicholson, who is Yemi’s father, said they never anticipated their son excelling in sport. They described Yemi, 22, as a late bloomer, who was more focused on music and academics than sports. Even the sport he played when he was about six years old was baseball.

"I learned about baseball by taking him to the game and watching him play,” said his mother.

Yemi would thank a friend for introducing him to Greg Lackey, an assistant coach of the DU basketball team.

“The coach was impressed in Yemi’s first two minutes of play,” said Willie.

Willie hails from Sierra Leone while Bola comes from Nigeria. Both of them had to learn about American sports as the profile of their son rose in Denver as a skilled player and draft prospect.

Hali played defensive end position for the Penn State University football team as one of the hottest defenders of the past season. He is expected to be a top commodity during the upcoming draft.

Hali came to the United States in the aftermath of the civil war that erupted in his home country in the 1990s. He came to the United States in 1994 to join his biological father in New Jersey. His mother is still in Liberia. He cannot bring her over, he said, until he is a citizen when he can file immigration papers on her behalf. However, he said he talks to her once a week.

As in other African countries, Liberia’s top sport is soccer. Recently, a world-renown soccer player, George Opon Weah, ran for president of the country, but lost.

Upon settling down in the U.S., Hali learned football fast, becoming an all-American at Taeneck High School. Christian Dunbar, another Liberian native, also played linebacker for Temple University.

In the National Football League, Gado endeared himself to Green Bay Packers fans as an unlikely hero. With pro-bowler Ahman Green hurt and sidelined, Gado picked up the mantle and impressed the fans with a number of hundred-yard games, prompting the fans to hold high signs saying “In Gado we trust.”

Gado is a metaphor of some of the challenges some of the players meet. But these challenges are not necessarily peculiar. Gado found it difficult to get a team to sign him on long-term.
Gado was picked late in the draft from Liberty University by the Chiefs. While other players were receiving millions, he got $3,500. He never even lasted there, as he was released. But Packers scouts had noticed him. They brought him on not only after Green’s injury, but also after the backup, Najeh Davenport, broke his ankle.

Green recently signed a one-year contract with the Packers. Sports analysts think the team is depending on Gado to be the running back after Green.

Adu’s challenge was tied to his age and size. He still grapples with that today. Most other players, both on his team and in the league, tend look at him as too young and too small. He is, however, overcoming them with his dexterity on the field of play.

Another well-known name in the NFL, Adewale Ogunleye, who is a defensive end for the Chicago Bears, also has African ancestry, specifically Nigerian. Ogunleye was one of the top defensive players last year and was a factor in the team’s berth in the post-season.

One of the drawbacks tends to be their accents. But their college experiences usually teach them how to adapt to an American team or environment. Those born to African parents like Okafor or Ogunleye have acquired American accents, which often contrast sharply with those of their African-born parents.

In soccer, Ghana-born Adu headlined sports pages about five years ago as the ultimate sports prodigy. He was drafted at the age of 15 as the first pick in Major League Soccer’s draft. He now plays for the D.C. United.

Adu came to the United States with both parents, but he lives with his mother. He has signed a $500,000 per-year contract to play his game of choice. He has shown flashes on the field of play, but many sports writers think he still needs to grow big to withstand the weight of bigger players. Yet, he has scored several goals, and many believe that he is the future of the sport not only in the U.S. but around the world.

Iginla is often regarded as the first Black captain in the National Hockey League. Born to a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother, Iginla learned about the sport from his maternal grandfather who took him to rinks and taught him the intricacies of the game. Iginla, whose name in the Yoruba language ironically translates as either big stick or big tree, plays for the Calgary Flames. He recently represented Canada in the Olympics alongside Colorado Avalanche’s Joe Sakic.

Although these players have African heritage, they do not play with any sense of African loyalty. They are devoted to their teams first and foremost. Those born in the United States know about their African heritage through their parents.

Willie Nicholson said his son attends many African parties in the Colorado area, and he enjoys African food. The mother said he genuflects to his parents’ friends and visitors as part of the Yoruba tradition, which enjoins respect for elders.

Mutombo has been known over the years to spend the off-season as NBA’s goodwill ambassador. He has been involved in fund-raisers and, with his foundation, has helped build a 300-bed general hospital in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire.

Africans living in the United States often take pleasure in seeing African names on the shirts of players in both college and professional sports.

They would echo Willie Nicholson’s words to describe his son’s new profile as an NBA prospect:

“It’s an accomplishment.”