World-class wonder

HLLSBOROUGH PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Berkeley Prep outside hitter Janet Okogbaa has proved powerful at any level or venue.

By ANTHONY GAGLIANO
Published December 25, 2005

TAMPA - For Berkeley Prep coach Randy Dagostino, the legend of Janet Okogbaa began she was in the second grade.

"One of the lower division (Berkeley Prep) physical education teachers who helped me out with the volleyball team said, "I think this kid has a future,' " Dagostino said. "I went to watch part of a P.E. class, a track class. I wanted to watch her run.

"First off, she was a head taller than anyone else. But she was so competitive in everything. I kept my eyes on her."

A decade later, that hunch proved to be correct. Okogbaa fulfilled that potential and still has quite a future ahead of her.

The 6-foot-3 outside hitter won the state Player of the Year award this season as a senior, committed to play for perennial power Stanford and toured Turkey with the U.S. junior national team in the summer.

Then, she helped carry the Bucs to their 15th state championship match before falling in three games to Lake Highland Prep.

"She's in a league of her own physically," Dagostino said of Okogbaa, who can touch 10 feet, 11 inches. "I don't think I'll ever coach someone like her again."

Okogbaa is reserved about all of her accolades and success. She doesn't have any jerseys hanging at home and doesn't even own a volleyball. The trophies and medals sit in her room, and that's where they'll stay when she leaves California.

"I don't know about a lot of the awards I get," Okogbaa said. "I guess they show hard work pays off."

Okogbaa, a 4.0 student this year, is as excited about the academic challenges Stanford presents as the chance to suit up for the Cardinal, the 2004 national champions who have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 25 straight years. Not that she'll tell you that.

"She's a person of very few words, and very, very few expressions," Dagostino said. "It's hard to read her. But it's not that she doesn't play with emotion. It's just totally inward emotion."

The competitiveness seems to brew hot within her, particularly when she talks about what the future might hold.

She would like to win a championship at Stanford, something that evaded her at Berkeley.

The Bucs' last state title came in 2003 when Okogbaa sat out her sophomore year with a back injury. Outside the championship, she wants to chase the Olympic dream after getting a small taste with the junior national team. Okogbaa was, no less, the only high school player on the U.S. team that competed in the FIVB Under-20 World Championships in Ankara, Turkey.

"It was good to play with people at the highest level and it taught me a lot," Okogbaa said. "I got to see volleyball all around the world."

Times staff writer Scott Purks contributed to this report.

[Last modified December 24, 2005, 23:43:13]