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Former Vanderbilt basketball forward AK Okereke has signed a two-way deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, per a tweet from ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Vanderbilt only had Okereke for one season, but he was among its most impactful players as it reached the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Okereke averaged 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 48.1% from the field and 40.0% from 3-point range. A source told Vandy on SI that Lakers representatives raved about Okereke after he worked out in front of them.
Okereke and company explored another season of eligibility on the grounds of the Ivy League’s lack of a redshirt rule, but he opted to pursue the professional route rather than waiting on the NCAA’s ruling.
Okereke signed with ADS Sports Management, which declared on Instagram that it had been a "busy pre-draft process" for their client. The management company has clients returning to college, but also a heavy dose of players with expired eligibility turning pro. Former Vanderbilt forward Devin McGlockton is also signed with the company.
Now, his bold decision has paid off.
Okereke started his career as a walk-on at Cornell and wasn't sure where his basketball career would lead, but now he's got a chance to prove that he can contribute to an NBA team.
The Lakers likely gravitated towards Okereke’s unconventional skillset in which he can handle the ball, rebound, pass it, score it at all three levels and defend multiple positions. Okereke wasn’t Vanderbilt’s star in 2025-26, but he embraced his role.
“I know exactly what I need to do,” Okereke told Vandy on SI at the time, “Anchor down the defense and have the intensity of your focus on that end first, and then the offensive will come. I'm not worried about it too much, I just kind of pick my spots and I want to be aggressive.”
Okereke was perhaps Vanderbilt's most interesting player in that he co-ran a finance startup called Mainstreet, consistently wrote a Catholic newsletter and was enrolled in Vanderbilt's Masters of Finance program while playing a role on its most successful basketball team in over a decade.
“He’s probably one of the most well-rounded people I’ve been around,” Cornell coach Jon Jaques–who Okereke played for before transferring to Vanderbilt–said. “It's all well-rounded, high achieving people [he’s around] and he's at the top of the top of that list because he's able to get extra work on the court and still be able to be an amazing student and have stuff going on outside of basketball.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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