Drake basketball's Okay Djamgouz puts on show in front of family after COVID separation

Drake sophomore guard Okay Djamgouz doesn’t get many opportunities to play basketball in front of his family.

The Toronto native redshirted his first season with the Bulldogs. Then, the pandemic hit and the border between the United States and Canada closed for many months. Drake played games last season in an empty arena, without fans in the stands.

Life started to return to normal for most of the Bulldogs players this season. All five starters from last year returned. Fans were back at the Knapp Center, and the local players from Iowa and surrounding states saw family travel to Des Moines to watch them play.

Not Djamgouz. International flight restrictions loosened but driving across the land border was still limited until this fall. His father, Tevfik Djamgouz flew out for Drake’s game against South Dakota — and saw his son score eight points — but no one else in his family had seen him play since high school.

That changed on Sunday, when a lot of pieces came together for Djamgouz’s family to witness a career moment for Okay.

Tevfik and the rest of the Djamgouz family — mom, Burcin, brother, Burak and sister, Ebru — hopped in the family van after work on Friday. They crossed the border and stopped in Indiana for the night, before finishing the drive to Des Moines on Saturday.

About 13 hours after leaving Toronto, Okay was reunited with his mom and siblings, who he hadn’t seen since returning to Drake. On Sunday, the Djamgouz family watched from the stands as Okay recorded career highs in minutes (21) and points (15). But that almost didn’t happen.

Less than 24 hours before the Bulldogs game and after the Djamgouzs were already on the road, Chicago State postponed due to COVID protocols. Drake found another opponent in Tennessee-Martin, which had its game against Evansville cancelled for the same reasons.

But Okay is not one of the Bulldogs’ starters, and him seeing 20-plus minutes in a game is rare. Another unforeseen challenge — Tremell Murphy out with a non-COVID illness — opened the door for Okay to show what he was made of.

“Just staying ready for when my name’s called,” Okay said Sunday. “I’m just trying to learn from the older guys, they’ve been helping me a lot. So, I just try and play as much as I can when my name does get called.”

And he did just that. His career performance included three 3-pointers, two rebounds and a steal.

“It was incredible, words are hard to describe it,” Tefvik told the Des Moines Register. “For him to get this opportunity, when the family is watching for the first time, and do what he did was truly special. A very, very proud moment for all of us.”

Tefvik said he plans on keep their tickets, to remember the moment they not only saw their son’s first college game but watched him excel at what Okay has loved doing since he was a toddler.

That’s no exaggeration. Tefvik used to sit with Okay on his lap and watch Vince Carter play for the Toronto Raptors. He admits that, at first, he had selfish motivations, hoping that Okay would love basketball so much that Burcin wouldn’t change the channel.

Tefvik bought Okay a child toy net, and then watched his son play the sport he’d taken in on TV. By the time his son was three years old, Tefvik was looking for people to coach Okay.

“He started shooting on that when he was two years old,” Tefvik said. “He did it with such precision. I don’t know if it was watching the game and saw what they were doing. He loved it, and he was so talented. He’s been working on his game ever since.”

That born ability led Okay to a college basketball career, highlighted by his performance on Sunday. Even after 21 minutes in the game, Okay did what he does after most games — shoot around — except this time, he was with his 16-year-old brother, Burak.

“When Okay is home or Burak is here, they go at it, play against each other, and challenge each other, which is fantastic,” Tefvik said. “Of course, while we’re here, Burak and Okay are going to train quite a bit. Burak can’t wait to get in the gym with his brother.”

The Djamgouz family will remain in Des Moines through the holidays, and will get at least one more chance to watch Okay play. Drake was originally scheduled to play Saint Louis in Las Vegas on Wednesday, but the Billikens cancelled for COVID-19 reasons.

With their Wednesday schedule open, the Bulldogs will now play Chicago State instead - making up for the Cougars postponement of Sunday's matchup.

There is a chance that the Bulldogs squeeze in another game before the Djamgouz family returns to Canada. For now, they’re soaking up every moment together as a family again, from training to shopping to homecooked meals.

“We would have been OK, either way, whether there was a game or not,” Tefvik said. “Obviously, the most important thing for us is to spend time with him. But the game was certainly icing on the cake.”

Alyssa Hertel is a college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake's Okay Djamgouz happy to play in front of family after separation