Background: Jahlil Okafor (pronounced ; born December 15, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played his freshman season of college for the 2014-15 Duke national championship team. Okafor was heavily recruited since before high school and had been at the top of the recruiting rankings for several years. He played high school basketball in Chicago, Illinois for Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, where he earned high school national player of the year awards from McDonald's, USA Today and Parade.
Context: In June 2012, Sports Illustrated named him one of their "Future Game Changers", a group of fourteen young athletes who are considered to be the brightest talents of their respective sport (such as Sarah Hendrickson, Jabrill Peppers, and Taylor Townsend). On September 19 John Calipari made Okafor an offer to play for Kentucky, joining Ohio State, Michigan State, Louisville, Illinois, Duke, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona as programs that have offered Okafor.  Okafor was one of 10 USA Today preseason All-USA selections (along with Aaron Gordon, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Kasey Hill, Jones, Parker, Julius Randle, Noah Vonleh, Andrew Wiggins). Okafor was named as one of the top 5 Illinois Mr. Basketball contenders (along with Parker, Kendrick Nunn, Sterling Brown and Malcolm Hill) prior to the season by the Chicago Tribune's Mike Helfgot. Whitney Young was the number eight ranked team in the MaxPreps.com national preseason poll. Young entered the season ranked fourteenth in the nation according to ESPN.  On December 20 Okafor and Young lost in overtime to Dakari Johnson's ESPN #1-ranked Montverde Academy. Young was ranked #9 at the time. On January 19, Okafor led Young to an 85-52 victory over Long Beach Polytechnic High School at the Hoophall Classic with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. The victory gave Young a 7-1 record against nationally ranked teams for the year, moving Young to #2 in the USA Today rankings as they prepared for the January 26 crosstown showdown against Simeon and Parker.  In the Chicago Public High School League playoffs February 15 finals contest against Morgan Park High School Okafor tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocked shots, including a game-saving block against Billy Garrett, Jr., in a 60-56 overtime Public League Championship game victory over Morgan Park.  Okafor was recognized as a 2013 All-Public League first team selection by the Chicago Sun-Times along with Nunn, Parker, Alexander and Billy Garrett, Jr. On February 28, he was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. On March 25, Okafor finished as runner-up in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting to Parker by a 315-277-point margin, including a 43-40 first place vote margin. On April 17, he was a first team All-USA selection by USA Today along with Wiggins, Aaron Harrison, Randle and Parker. Following the demise of ESPN HS, HighSchoolHardwood.com undertook several honoraria selections. Although MaxPreps.com did not select him as a first team All-American, they did select him as a Junior All-American along with Stanley Johnson, Joel Berry, Jones, and Emmanuel Mudiay.
Question: Why did they give him this honor?. Whats the answer?
athletes who are considered to be the brightest talents of their respective sport (