Mother's memory constant for Okafor

— -- DURHAM, N.C. -- He remembers surprise trips to Chuck E. Cheese's. He and his sister, Jalen, would dart around the restaurant, splitting their time between collecting tickets at the games and scarfing down pizza at the table. Despite the noise, squealing kids and sugar rushes that can defeat even the most indulgent parent, she'd never rush them along.

And she was tall, very tall. He remembers that.

And people in town really liked her. That has stuck with him.

And he was her sidekick, a real mama's boy. That much he knows for sure.

And then there were sirens and ambulances and his own panic. He remembers being the one in the room, the one who placed the 911 call.

And then Dacresha Benton, Dee as she was called, was gone, dead at the age of 29. Her son was not yet 10 years old.

Sadly, Jahlil Okafor remembers that, too.

"I have a lot of memories,'' Okafor said. "My dad lost his mom when he was an infant, so he always let me know how lucky I was to be able to remember her. But that can make it hurt even more sometimes, being able to remember.''

It's those memories, the ones that he has and the ones he'll never create, that ground Okafor as he begins a college basketball career at Duke that could easily overwhelm him.

Twelve months after The Freshmen dominated college basketball, Okafor is "The Freshman," the ballyhooed "It boy" for the season. He arrives at Duke with his treasure chest already stuffed with three USA Basketball gold medals, two high-profile MVP awards (from the McDonald's All-American game and the U17 world championships), multiple national high school player of the year honors, and the label of "one of a kind," from his college coach, a guy who has seen a few great kinds.

Yet the player who received his first scholarship offer as an eighth grader remains thoroughly unimpressed -- with himself, with the attention, with any of it.

It's because of those memories, and the difficult lesson they offered.

"He gets it,'' Okafor's aunt, Dr. Chinyere Okafor-Conley, said. "With his mom's passing, he knows that you're not promised tomorrow and that you're not guaranteed anything. We've had this discussion over and over again. Life can change in a matter of a minute, so enjoy it. That's what he's doing. He's enjoying it.''