From Ohio State to Elite Eight: Roddy Gayle Jr. and Felix Okpara’s paths collide in Michigan-Tennessee matchup

CHICAGO — Even before No. 1 seed Michigan and No. 6 seed Tennessee found out they would be meeting up in the Elite Eight, Wolverines senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. and Volunteers senior big man Felix Okpara knew they needed to catch up with each other.

“After the season, long before we knew we were going to play each other, we wanted to go on a trip together, just bring everybody back together and experience that,” Gayle said.

Gayle and Okpara were in the same recruiting class at Ohio State and were roommates their freshman year. After their sophomore years, they went in separate directions via the transfer portal following a 22-14 season, during which former Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann was fired midseason.

Back in 2022, when Gayle and Okpara were roommates, both came in from very different backgrounds. Gayle, who just returned close to home for the first weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, is from New York, while Okpara came to the States from Lagos, Nigeria.

“When I first met him, his English was terrible,” Gayle said. “He was a really goofy guy, really fun to be around. His personality is just something that you don’t really see a lot, especially from guys like that.”

Despite the initial language barrier, the two naturally became closer and closer as the season progressed. Naturally, Gayle and Okpara spent nearly their entire lives together.

“Felix became one of my closest friends in college,” Gayle said. “It’s just that bond that we shared for two years. We were roommates and ate together, slept together, that’s just what it was. And I think that that bond will never go away.”