Many people are able to watch Onochie Ochie flourish on the basketball court, but few actually see the character that drives the player and the adversity that shaped the talented athlete seen on the court today.
Ochie is a sophomore from Albany, Ga., who is majoring in organizational communication. After playing basketball at Westover High School, Ochie picked outside of the box and chose to play for Southeastern.
“I was considering a lot of other schools in South Carolina, but I came here mainly because it had a great coaching staff, and I felt a family atmosphere,” said Ochie. “Coach Yarbrough came into my living room and sold my parents over quickly.”
Ochie’s parents, Dr. Charles and Chinelo Ochie, are both college professors from Nigeria. Ochie claims their influence has set a standard of academic achievement for himself.
“[My parents] just really focused on school and said that the main thing is making good grades and getting your degree in college,” said Ochie. “My junior and senior year, when schools started to look at me for scholarships,  we said, ‘OK, we’ll give basketball a chance,’ but mainly the focus was definitely all academics first. That’s why I believe I’m so successful academically.”
Head coach Jim Yarbrough expressed his appreciation not only for Ochie’s talent, but also the academic and spiritual strength he brings to the team.
“He’s certainly a guy who brings great integrity to the program, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Yarbrough. “The great thing for us is not only does he do a good job in the community, and not only does he do a good job on campus and is a great ambassador for us and for our athletic department, but he’s really blossoming as a player as well. When you have a person who starts to really put it all together, that’s kind of what you’re after.”
Ochie claimed that one of his biggest struggles in his college basketball career was his lack of knowledge of the sport. It was not until freshman year of high school that Ochie started playing basketball seriously. Ochie said that his basketball career resulted in a twist of fate after a growth spurt from 5 foot 5 inches to 6 foot 2 inches tall.
“When I came here from high school, I was really young,” said Ochie. “I really had just started playing organized basketball in ninth grade, so I didn’t have that much knowledge of the game. It was just raw talent, but the coaches have taught me how to really play the game and showed me how to become a knowledgeable player on the floor.”
Despite his struggles with professional basketball, Ochie has evolved as a player, becoming a formidable opponent on the court.
“The more he played the better he got,” said Yarbrough. “He’s become one of the best, most efficient players in the country for the minutes he plays. He plays 5-15 minutes a game, and he’ll score 5-15 points in that game.”
The challenges basketball has presented Ochie over the years have improved his abilities as a player, increased his mental strength and boosted his character in the face of adversity.
“It’s given me a lot of character,” said Ochie. “Basketball has lots of ups and downs, and a lot of adversity. It teaches you to fight the adversity and just keep pushing. A lot of times, during work out and things like that, you may be tired, you think you can’t go, but it makes you mentally stronger as a person as well.”
Ochie is still speculating about his future plans after college.
“By God’s grace, I would like to play professional basketball, but I am majoring in communication, and if I’m not playing basketball, I would like to do public relations or maybe media relations,” said Ochie.
Ochie’s love for God and true spirituality is constantly present, and he rejects his success giving “all glory to God for everything.”