By Fernando Castro
Ken Ojuka is all about business on and off the field.
Ojuka, 23, a midfielder on the BYU soccer team, stays busy with school, athletics and entrepreneurial ventures. He owns a mortgage company, computer repair business and involvement in real estate investments.
“The good thing about my businesses is that it is something that I can do in times other than the 9 to 5 hours and in the early mornings,” he said.
But when it”s time to switch from loafers to cleats, he is still a very competitive player who has the ability to win every match up, every game.
“He is the strongest guy on the field,” BYU head coach Chris Watkins said. “I don”t care who we play against, he is going to be the strongest guy on the field. He is also very fast, so he has the ability to be a difference maker for us.”
Ojuka became a starter in the middle of last season, and has started every game since.
Watkins said Ojuka is very effective on winning the in-line, dominating his opponent on the dribble and being able to out run them, but he would like to see him score a little more.
“He”s got two of the three things we look for in an offensive player, but we obviously need a finishing touch from him,” Watkins said.
Ken”s mother, Grace Ojuka, has great confidence his son will be able to become a great offensive asset to the team.
“He is very focused and driven,” she said. “In his work he pushes himself and when has a goal in mind he works very hard to do it.”
As a junior in high school, Ojuka played on the Arizona 4-A championship team and was named to the 1998-1999 All- State team. During his senior season, UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, New Mexico and BYU each recruited him.
Ojuka said he was not planning to come to BYU, but he is glad he did.
“It was a last minute thing,” Ojuka said. “But my mother and my mission president teamed up to have me come up here.”
Ojuka served a mission in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission from 1999-2001.
A native from Uganda, moved to Provo when he was 8 years old. His family had recently joined the LDS church and his father wanted to come to BYU to get a doctorate and learn more about the gospel.
