CHICAGO — Michigan’s Roddy Gayle had just finished spreading the gospel to the media after the Wolverines vanquished Alabama 90-77 in Friday’s Sweet 16 when his old roommate came around the corner in the bowels of the United Center to deliver a prescient message.
“See you Sunday.”
It was Tennessee big man Felix Okpara. Gayle and Okpara were both green freshmen at Ohio State way back in 2022. They lived together. They transferred at the same time after their sophomore seasons. They will play each other Sunday for a trip to the Final Four after Okpara did his part to help the Volunteers outlast Iowa State, 76-62.
“When I first met him, his English was terrible,” Gayle says with a laugh. “But he was a really goofy guy. Really fun to be around. His personality, it was something that you don’t really see a lot from guys like that. Felix became one of my closest friends in college. It’s just that bond that we shared for two years. We’re roommates. Ate together, slept together, that’s just what it was. That bond will never go away.”
A lot has changed in four years. That four-man 2023 class that Chris Holtmann reeled in has done some serious work. Bruce Thornton is now Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer. Brice Sensabaugh can score the pill. He’s in the NBA with the Utah Jazz for a reason after spending just one year in Columbus. Gayle and Okpara have grinded their way into being key cogs for two of the best teams in the Big Ten and SEC, respectively.
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“Man, that’s my guy, you know,” Okpara told CBS Sports. “We definitely still talk. I’m happy for him. You know, he’s having a lot of success where he is right now. I know he’s going to say the same thing that he’s happy for me too. I’m just excited to play against him one more time.”
Clearly, life is good now, but both have had to deal with real adversity. The Ohio State tenure wasn’t sunshine and roses. As freshmen, the Buckeyes had a stretch where they lost 14 of 15. Holtmann got fired midway through the sophomore season after another post-New Year’s collapse. The stay-or-go decision was agonizing, especially when assistant coach Jake Diebler earned the full-time gig. Thornton chose to stay. Gayle and Okpara both chose to leave.
“We definitely didn’t want to leave,” Okpara said. “But we just had to make decisions that would change our lives. We both picked the right program.”
It’s worked out.
They’ve both grown up. Gayle is now known as “March Roddy” in Michigan’s fun-loving locker room. He erupted for 16 points — his second-most in a game this season — against Alabama on Friday. Last year at this time, Gayle broke a long slump with 11 huge points in Michigan’s tight win over UC San Diego in the 2025 NCAA Tournament opener and carried the Wolverines into the Sweet 16 with a 26-point eruption against Texas A&M.
Okpara’s English has certainly improved leaps and bounds as he’s adjusted to life in the United States after leaving Nigeria in 2018 to chase his basketball dreams. He’s one of the fiercest rim protectors in the SEC and a big reason why Tennessee believes it can go toe-to-toe with Michigan’s gargantuan frontline.
Gayle says that a postseason trip is in the works, but a location is still up in the air.
But when Gayle puts it on the deck Sunday to get downhill on one of his patented bully-ball drives, he knows he’d better be careful to avoid his old roommate, who can spike the rock into the fourth row.
“It’s just a crazy moment; two guys from Ohio State, we’re playing together in the Elite Eight for two different teams,” Gayle said. “It’s obviously fun to play against somebody that you essentially grew up with.”
