Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Okafor ya kasance mai yawan daukar ma'aikata kafin makarantar sakandare kuma ya kasance a saman jerin masu daukar ma'aikata na shekaru da yawa. Ya buga wasan kwando a makarantar sakandare a Chicago, Illinois don Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, inda ya sami lambar yabo ta 'yan wasan makarantar sakandare ta shekara daga McDonald's, "USA Today" da "Parade". A gasar cin kofin duniya na FIBA na shekara ta 2012, ya sami lambar yabo ta MVP don tawagar Amurka da ta lashe lambar zinare. A cikin 2013, Okafor ya jagoranci Whitney Young zuwa gasar zakarun birni ta 2013 Chicago Public High School League (CPL). Ya kasance All-American a matsayin matashi a shekara ta 2013. A lokacin bazara na gaba, ya kasance zaɓaɓɓen ƙungiyar All-Tournament a
2013 FIBA Under-19 gasar cin kofin duniya, don zinare-kwalliya Team Amurka. Bayan babban lokacinsa, ya sami cikakkiyar girmamawa ta Amurka kuma an nada shi dan wasan shekara na kasa ta "Parade", "USA Today" da McDonald's a tsakanin sauran 'yan wasa. Ya sanya hannu tare da Duke a matsayin kunshin tare da Tyus Jones, tare da sanannun sanannun matsayin dan wasan Kwalejin Kwalejin na shekara.