Tampa Bay Tech's Chi Chi Opkaleke didn't throw up bricks. She was the main one.
By EMILY NIPPS
Published March 18, 2004
TAMPA - It wasn't the way Tampa Bay Tech coach Heather Glezen wanted it to end, but she was prepared for this kind of ending just in case.
The Titans, the county's top team for the past three seasons, always seemed to hit a wall in the Class 4A regional tournament. This time was no different. In the first round of regionals in February, Tampa Bay Tech faced eventual state finalist Winter Haven and was eliminated 61-40.
Glezen huddled her stunned, teary-eyed Titans together after the game and looked straight at her nine seniors.
"I was trying to tell them that they really built the program into what it was," Glezen said. "I said, "You guys are like bricks on a house. You guys will forever be a part of Tampa Bay Tech."'
If the seniors were the bricks, Hillsborough County player of the year Chi Chi Opkaleke was their foundation, and everyone knew it. It was no coincidence that the year the Titans started improving was the same year the forward transferred from Bradenton Southeast.
In the past three seasons, the Titans have gone 67-10, and most of the losses came against out-of-town teams in tournaments.
They have been the team to beat in the area, the powerhouse team that no one wants to face.
Okpaleke's intimidating presence on the court has made perhaps the biggest contribution to Tampa Bay Tech's image. Not only did the 5-foot-11 player led the county in scoring (19.4 points per game) for the past two seasons, but she also emerged as one of the team's more vocal leaders on the court.
It wasn't always her role. Okpaleke didn't begin taking basketball seriously until her freshman year, dabbling in soccer and other interests before that.
"I actually just played basketball to see how it was," Okpaleke said. "I stuck with it when I saw how I developed and caught onto how the game was played."
She transferred to Tampa Bay Tech as a shy sophomore and quickly made friends with fellow players such as Rebekkah and Naomi Barnes and Dallas McNeal as she helped the Titans become the most powerful team in the county.
More impressively, Okpaleke went from being a relative newcomer to basketball to signing a Division I scholarship in four years. She chose the University of South Florida in September, passing up offers from Georgia State, Mercer, Howard and Appalachian State.
"I didn't think it was possible when I started (as a freshman)," she said. "It wasn't until I started getting good when I thought, "Wow, this could mean a college scholarship.' "
It was a nice bonus for someone who doesn't necessarily hope to make a career out of basketball. Okpaleke was accepted into USF's highly competitive nursing program and hopes to join her father and older sisters in the health field, perhaps focusing on neonatology.
Okpaleke also hopes that staying in her hometown will allow her to see her Tampa Bay Tech teammates more often. It's a bittersweet consolation.
She believes her time with the Titans ended far too early.
MEETCHICHIOKPALEKE
FULL NAME: Chinyere Pamela Okpaleke.
SIBLINGS: Five sisters (Queenate, 26; Lillian, 22; Ify, 21; Nkeirou, 16; C.J., 9), one brother (Okwy, 14).
