Former standout forward AK Okereke ’25 signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on June 24 following the conclusion of the 2026 NBA Draft. Okereke is the second Cornell basketball alumnus to make the NBA since 2012, joining his former teammate Chris Mañon ’24, who signed a two-way contract with the Lakers in 2025.
A two-way contract allows players to split their time between the NBA and the NBA G League, helping teams with roster flexibility and player development.
In an interview with The Sun, Okereke discussed his journey to the NBA and how his time with the Red and other experiences impacted him.
Growing Up
Okereke said he has been playing basketball “since [he] can remember.” He spent many hours playing in his backyard alongside his older brother, who is three and a half years older. Okereke’s first memory of competitive basketball was in first grade, playing with fourth graders because there was no team for his age group.
Okereke said that joining the NBA had been a dream for him “early on,” but as he grew up, he tried to be realistic, thinking he probably wasn’t good enough.
But, after he made some “big jumps” athletically in high school, his childhood dream resurfaced. Okereke’s senior year of high school, 2020-2021, was when “the hope really came in.”
“I was a bit of a late bloomer,” Okereke said. “My senior year was probably the first year I was a Division I level athlete.”
However, he ran into what he referred to as “headwinds,” including COVID-19 and increased competition as a change in longstanding NCAA rules opened up the transfer pool. This led Okereke to spend a year at Golden State Prep, a fifth-year graduate program for student-athletes to become college ready.
Despite being in contact with head coach Jon Jaques ’10 throughout high school and his prep year, Okereke was not recruited by the Red coming into college, but instead joined the team as a walk-on.
According to Jaques, the team was initially “interested in him, but ultimately decided he wasn’t good enough.” Cornell was on Okereke’s radar “as a student,” however, which brought him to Ithaca despite the lack of certainty for his basketball career.
“I told him that if he really wanted to play basketball, that he go somewhere else,” Jaques said, since walk-on tryouts are not guaranteed by Cornell. “But he showed up anyways.”
Resilience at the Red
After two months playing recreational basketball at the Helen Newman and Noyes recreational centers, Okereke was offered a workout with the team. Following his workout, he was invited back to practice with the team, and officially joined the roster a couple of weeks later.
“I had a taste of what it was like to not play competitive basketball for two months, and it might seem like a pretty inconsequential amount of time looking back, but those were a long two months for me,” he told The Sun.
After joining the team, Okereke didn’t get many minutes his first year, playing in four games as a reserve. He was “ambitious” and spent many late nights and early mornings improving his game with the goal of obtaining more playing time, alongside former teammate Adam Hinton ’26, he said.
Okereke continued to progress during his three years at Cornell, working his way up to a starter and a primary ball handler for the Red. During his junior and final season, he averaged 13.9 points per game, led the Ivy League and ranked 18th nationally in field goal percentage, and was also awarded second-team All-Ivy.
Jaques described how he watched Okereke’s confidence develop over his three seasons, noting improvements in both his ball handling and his fit into Cornell’s system.
“Once he had that knowledge of knowing that he belonged, he really took off,” Jaques said. “No one could stop AK from getting to where he wanted on the court.”
Jaques also described him as a “sponge” and an “engaged learner,” which helped him develop over the years.
Okereke explained that, while at Cornell, he refused to take the buses, opting to walk everywhere because he saw “real virtue” in doing so.
“It was always beautiful in the summers and the springs,” he said. “I loved to eat at the dining halls, and I used to spend a bunch of time with my teammates and my coaches. I really enjoyed my time at Cornell.”
After completing his undergraduate studies in economics in the College of Arts and Sciences, Okereke transferred as a graduate student to Vanderbilt. There, he would average 9.6 points per game and start 35 of their 36 games played. According to Okereke, the Commodores “overperformed” that season and went 24-7, making it to the second round of March Madness before losing to the Tennessee Volunteers.
Okereke described his time at Cornell as closer to the “college experience,” in contrast with a “professional basketball environment” he experienced at Vanderbilt University.
The Draft Process
For the NBA pre-draft process, Okereke did 14 total workouts for 13 teams, working out with the Lakers twice. He described the process as “surreal — being in all the facilities of the teams you watched growing up, you’re seeing all the players.”
During his workouts he felt he was able to “overperform” relative to people’s expectations. He said he “generated some buzz” after a successful first workout with the Lakers, leading them to invite him back for another.
Come draft day, Okereke was in Atlanta visiting his sister. He watched the draft by himself, and was ultimately not selected. However, as the night was wrapping up, he received a call from his agent announcing the news.
Okereke described that getting the contract didn’t sink in right away.
“In my mind, I’m super goal-oriented,” Okereke said. “I was like, ‘okay, cool I just achieved the goal. It didn’t really hit me until … everyone that I know started texting me.”
Now that he’s reached the highest level of basketball, Okereke plans to get to work.
“My goal to be in the NBA isn’t just to be there,” he said. “I want to be here for a long time, so [I’m] starting to work now.”
Okereke is going to be sharing the floor with another Cornell alumnus, Mañon, whose path to the league shares many similarities with Okereke’s, albeit a year earlier. Mañon’s freshman year at Cornell was canceled due to COVID-19. He played three seasons with the Red before transferring to Vanderbilt as a graduate student. Mañon signed a two-way contract with the Lakers in July 2025 after catching the organization’s eye as a player for the Golden State Warriors’ summer league team.
Okereke described Mañon as a “hyper competitor” and “someone you definitely want on your team.”
Jaques told The Sun he was “thrilled” to see Okereke receive the opportunity, and also commented on his excitement to have two Cornell alumni on the same team working together.
“It’s pretty special stuff for sure,” Jaques said.
When asked to give a message to current students, Okereke reflected on the value of enjoying college life while it lasts.
“To all the students, embrace it, stop and smell the roses while you’re there, and Cornell is a very unique place,” he said. “Just cherish the time because that doesn’t last forever.”
Everett Chambala is a member of the Class of 2027 in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is an assistant news editor for the 144th Editorial Board and can be reached at echambala@cornellsun.com.
