Early on, it appeared his decision backfired.

When Arinze Onuaku transferred to Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., after his sophomore year, school officials told him to repeat 10th grade. It was common procedure for any transfer, especially one arriving from a public school system.

Onuaku, though, insisted that he enter as an 11th grader. The Syracuse men’s basketball recruit didn’t want to be a year behind the close friends who encouraged him to transfer in the first place. School officials worried he could not initially handle the curriculum, but with the decision ultimately resting with Onuaku, their pleading proved futile.

At first, they probably wished they begged harder. The junior struggled mightily in his classes the first semester, calling home multiple times to complain of the difficulty. He was still eligible to play sports, but his early grades raised eyebrows.

It seemed like he did himself a disservice in terms of basketball. Normally, a high-schooler transfers to a prep school to improve his reputation by playing in a better-known program. Instead, Onuaku switched to Episcopal to prepare for both living on his own and the academic rigors of college. The quality of basketball remained the same, and now he had a lot else on his mind after transferring from Duval High School in Lanham, Md.

Not to worry, though. Second semester was a different story. With newfound dedication, he dramatically improved his grades, and thus his attitude.

‘His English teacher at first said he couldn’t make it,’ said Christopher Onuaku, his father. ‘When we met her again at the end of year, she told us the improvement was spectacular.’

He easily qualified for the basketball team and drastically improved in his two seasons. His positive development in school and on the court are the main reasons Onuaku, who was born in the United States and is of Nigerian descent, will arrive at Syracuse on July 5 to begin summer classes and workouts.

He is the largest of SU’s recruits at 6 feet, 9 inches, 255 pounds. The Insider Hoops ranked him as the 13th best high school center in the country. He joins juniors-to-be, 6-foot-11 Darryl Watkins, 6-foot-9 Matt Gorman and 6-foot-9 Terrence Roberts, as the Orange’s big men next season.

‘He’s a big body with soft hands and good footwork,’ said Tim Jaeger, Onuaku’s coach at Episcopal. ‘He sees the floor pretty well. He’s a fun player for other kids to play with.’

The Lanham, Md., native narrowly chose Syracuse over Maryland, Boston College and Georgia.

‘Academically it’s a great school,’ Onuaku said of SU. ‘Then you look at the history of the basketball program and Hall of Fame coach (Jim Boeheim). And with Hakim Warrick and Craig Forth leaving it is a good opportunity to get playing time early.’

The deeply religious Onuaku and his parents trusted that higher powers would guide their son in his college decision.

‘That type of choice is not made by man,’ Christopher said. ‘It is made by God.’

His mother, Nwaneka Onuaku, said the family prays morning, afternoon and night every day. Before leaving for Episcopal, Onuaku spent a number of years as an altar boy and as a member of the church choir.

But Onuaku and his three siblings had no trouble convincing their parents to allot time for sports. While their father casually played soccer growing up in Nigeria, they got their athletic ability primarily from their mother.

Nwaneka, also a native Nigerian, was a track star in high school. She earned many gold medals (‘and only one silver,’ she insisted) in the 220-, 440-, and 880-meter races. Her awards litter the family’s basement. She also terrorized opponents on the handball pitch.

‘It all started with me,’ she proudly boasted. ‘I’m the one.’

Onuaku’s older sister, Ifeoma, will be a junior center at Florida A&M next season.

Chukwunwike, his 14-year old brother, played on Episcopal’s junior varsity team last fall as a freshman and Chinanu, his 8-year old brother, was recently named MVP in his age group in the area.

Ifeoma introduced the family to basketball.

‘I guess they saw me playing ball and they wanted to play ball, too,’ said Ifeoma, who averaged 4.9 points as a reserve last season for the Rattlers. ‘That’s how my little brothers picked it up. They just saw me.

‘That was also another way of keeping them out the streets.’

Onauku’s father moved to the United States in 1973 when he was 13 to attend school. He married Onauku’s mother, Nwaneka, in a traditional Nigerian wedding in 1982. They renewed their vows in a 1983 church wedding in America after she followed him across the Atlantic. Ifeoma was born shortly thereafter.

Among the family, only Christopher has returned to Africa. He’s traveled back three or four times, once to bring his wife to America. He and Nwaneka long for the day their children get the opportunity make the trip. Most of Onuaku’s family still lives in Nigeria.

‘Each year I say we are going to go, but we always have problems coming up with the funds,’ Christopher said. ‘As soon as I can get the money, I will take (Arinze and his siblings) to see their real home.

‘I want them to meet my people. They are all dying to see them.’

In the meantime, Onauku’s parents made sure he and his siblings knew at least a little about their ancestry. They even taught their children to speak a few words of their tribe’s language – Ibo.

In addition to learning about his culture, Onauku picked up basketball in the fourth grade. He also ran track for two years and played baseball for one in middle school. Even though his grades were down, they were high enough to maintain a position on the football team his junior year at Episcopal after transferring from Duval.

Onuaku would have played on the gridiron again this year if not for an injury he suffered last summer on the basketball court. During an American Athletic Union game for the DC Assault, he felt pain in one of his knees. It turned out to be tendonitis, an injury that never fully heals. He insists the injury is not a factor anymore, although his mother said it ‘comes and goes.’

Though the pain was gone when football season began, Jaeger convinced his star not to risk further injury and to focus completely on the upcoming basketball season. That also meant he was free to concentrate on his college decision in early November.

‘Everybody was telling me to go with my gut feeling,’ Onuaku said. ‘(SU) is where I felt most comfortable.’

Published on April 16, 2005 at 12:00 pm