Emeka Okafor covering NCAA March Madness 2005

Some guys have all the luck. But in the case of Emeka Okafor, he's got the skill too. The former University of Connecticut center helped lead his team to the 2004 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, was voted an All-American twice, and was the second overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. (Just don't ask him about getting that bronze medal in Athens.)

Given Okafor's record, it's little wonder that EA Sports picked him to be the cover athlete for its upcoming college hoops sim, NCAA March Madness 2005. The publisher announced the deal, which will also tab Okafor as the game's public spokesman, earlier today. "Earning the cover spot on NCAA March Madness 2005 is the perfect way to celebrate my time at UConn," said an understandably pleased Okafor.

Scheduled to ship in November for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, NCAA March Madness 2005 will build on last year's installment in the franchise. It has all the trappings of a college basketball game--down to mascots, cheerleaders, arenas, and crowd chants--as well as an "arena pulse" feature similar to the one in NCAA Football 2005. Players can play coach to one of more than 300 Division I schools, as GameSpot did for our recent hands-on.