SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – Sometimes it just works out right.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame had a plan in place for a UConn Day back in December, long before the University of Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball teams made history by winning NCAA national championships in the same year.

The season worked out well for the Huskies, and the Hall of Fame had no complaints, either, after 1,500 UConn supporters turned out at the shrine Tuesday to see Emeka Okafor receive a locker, and to get an autograph from Diana Taurasi. Okafor, the All-America center for the men’s team that defeated Georgia Tech for its second national title in five years, is the first collegiate player to receive a locker at the Hall of Fame. In fact, Okafor’s locker is the first to be displayed at the shrine’s new building, which opened in 2002.

Okafor’s locker is adorned with everything that could be expected in a basketball locker room, including sweats and uniforms, a letterman jacket, hats, deodorant and sneakers.

What really stood out, though, were the textbooks placed on the top shelf.

“I think back to (Hall of Famer) Bill Bradley when I think of Emeka,” UConn men’s coach Jim Calhoun said. “He’s become, in my opinion, the finest student-athlete in America today.”

Okafor, who will graduate from UConn this spring with a degree in finance, carries a grade point average of over 3.7. Although he is eligible to play one more year, the 6-foot-10 center has declared for the NBA.

“All the emotions I feel right now, it makes me want to come back and get another championship,” Okafor said. “But I got a degree, I got a championship and that’s the end of a great story.”

Taurasi, the 2003 national player of the year who led her team to three consecutive national titles, was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA on Saturday, the first selection overall.

AP-ES-04-20-04 1525EDT