Randolph native heading from Harvard to Wall Street

By Joe Studley

Randolph Herald

Posted Jun 22, 2010 @ 11:31 AM

Randolph —

There is a new name on Wall Street this week - Ndubuisi Okereke.

The 21-year-old Randolph native, who goes by “Ndu,” recently packed up his belongings and set off to New York City to begin his career as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley.

But finance was not always in his future. Before studying economics at Harvard University, Okereke generally was shooting hoops on the basketball courts.

“In high school, all I did was want to play basketball,” Okereke said. “Basketball was my life and where I was focused.”

Okereke, who began playing as a center at age 14, now stands 6’3”. He later switched to guard.

After going through Randolph public schools, Okereke wanted a change in scenery and an even greater challenge academically and athletically. When he was a junior, he transferred to Boston College High School.

He was determined and compassionate about the sport. Okereke recalls a game that he says put him on the map.

He was playing for the Middlesex Magic and had made seven to eight three-pointers at the Harley Davidson Invitation in West Virginia. After the game he met Harvard men’s basketball team coach Frank Sullivan, who recruited him to play for the Crimson. Not too long after, Harvard became Okereke’s new academic home.

Longtime friend Gerrel Olivier of Randolph, who also will be working on Wall Street with the same firm, never played on the same team as Okereke but would work out with him.

“He is very competitive,” said Olivier, who recently graduated from Boston College with a degree in finance economics. “Sometimes I wouldn’t want to work out with him because you’d know he was going to push you. He’s always looking to get better.”

Moving from Boston College High School to Harvard was a big transition - both academically and athletically. Okereke was surrounded with even more competitive individuals, but he was ready for the challenge.

“It’s an enriching environment because you can learn a lot from others’ experiences and you can help others with your own experiences,” he said.

At first, freshman year was tough. Okereke came into it not knowing the intensity of playing college basketball. With the help of upperclassmen and faculty, he learned to manage his time so well that he later would graduate with high honors. However, after two seasons playing for the Crimson, Okereke decided to end his basketball career because the 30-35 hour weekly commitment would prevent him from many other opportunities.

“Basketball and school was like two fulltime jobs,” he said. “It was a good time to switch gears. I thought I had all the value I could extract from college hoops: training skills, communication, working as a team and time management. I really wanted to take advantage of everything else that the college had to offer.”

Not too long after, Okereke studied aboard at the University College of London. He also became involved with an African Development Initiative and took on a large-scale project with a few friends.

Aside from interning with Goldman Sachs in New York City, after his sophomore year, he traveled to a village in Ghana. He and his roommates built a borehole in which villagers could extract water. They also educated the village on sanitation and how to maintain a well.

Okereke became the director of finance for the project and, through private connections he had made while interning on Wall Street, he fundraised $30,000 for the project. The experience was eye-opening.

“It was probably the most transformable experience of my college year,” he said. “It was my first time in a Third World country and seeing it was a shock. It made me realize how lucky we are in the U.S.

“People don’t have basic necessities, like clean drinking water. It was a big deal for that village, but there are still hundreds of others that have the same problem.”

Despite working long work weeks on Wall Street, Okereke plans to stay connected with his non-profit venture.

“I want to do well and good - well for myself, good for the world,” he said.

Between being successful on the basketball courts and now in the finance world, Okereke believes his parents, Alex and Uduak - both born in Nigeria but living in Randolph - have helped keep him leveled.

“Nothing would be possible without the value they’ve instilled in me,” he said.

Okereke graduated with Harvard’s Class of 2010 with high honors and a degree in Economics May 27.

Olivier calls Okereke a very inspirational person.

“ He’s good at giving advice and counseling on the best way to finish something,” he said.

The two now are working on Wall Street.

“It’s going to be a fresh new world and I’m going to learn a lot,” Okereke said.

Okereke recently was accepted into the Harvard Business School’s “Two Plus Two Program,” which allows students to work for two years and return to school and study for another two years. After working for two years at Morgan Stanley, Okereke will return to the Harvard Business School and anticipates graduating in 2014 with a masters degree in Business Administration.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1346033&forum_id=1#15314242)