Huskies Weren't As Great As Expected with Osobor on Hand

There's a line in the original "Road House" Hollywood film repeated over and over to the bouncer character portrayed by the late Patrick Swayze, for a point of emphasis, in which he's told, "I thought you'd be bigger."

As a much-advertised and extremely well compensated University of Washington basketball player, Great Osobor heard something similar at nearly every turn of his brief stay in Montlake this past season.

Only it went like this: "I thought your team would be better."

Indeed, as the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year and some $2 million richer from a prearranged NIL deal, expectations were such that people envisioned Osobor alone could be such a commanding presence he would make the Huskies reasonably competitive in their first season in the Big Ten and an NCAA Tournament qualifier again.

With a resounding thud, Osobor and his UW teammates finished dead last in the 18-team Big Ten standings. They were saddled with a 13-18 record, this after beginning the season 10-4, and they lost 16 of 20 conference outings, nearly half by blowouts.

Great Osobor heads to the basket at Alaska Airlines Arena. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Offensively, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound power forward from Bradford, England, proved well rounded enough by leading the Huskies in scoring (14.8), rebounds (8.0) and assists (3.4), as the only Big Ten player to do this. He seemed content with the freedom and direction he was given by Sprinkle.

"I showed loyalty to my guy," he said. "I had one offer out of high school. I've said this a lot -- he believed in me to play at the Division I level. He asked me to come with him, like with the opportunity to play at the highest level in college basketball in the Big Ten. I trusted in him and he kept his promise."

Yet Osobor had noticeable holes in his game. He offered no mid-range jumper or one-hander inside the key that would make himself more of a threat, preferring to continuously back in or spin around defenders for lay-ins or dunk shots.

Rather than force his way to the basket, he might have beaten Oregon at the end of regulation play on Sunday had he been capable of launching a short, pull-up jumper.

Everywhere he went, Osobor was double-teamed and often neutralized at times. He seemed so distracted by all of the attention sent his way he threw or dribbled the ball away at a maddening rate, piling up a team-high 102 turnovers, or more than three per game.

Osobor scored 20 or more points in just six games, with a high of 28 against Purdue. He had eight games in which he finished in single digits, with a season low of 3 points at Nevada and just 4 points the other day against Indiana. In three outings, he didn't even make a field goal, going 0 for 8 at Michigan State.

In a year's time, he saw his Utah State season stat line of 17 points and 9 rebounds a game decrease by 2.5 points and a rebound an outing at the UW against tougher Big Ten competition.

Where he excelled in his lone season with the Huskies was he showed himself to be a notably unselfish teammate and an effective passer, piling up a team-high 106 assists. He had 10 alone against Penn State.

Together at Montana State, Utah State and the UW, Sprinkle grew to heavily rely on and sometimes be overly protective of Osobor, which actually might have been a detriment at times to the player's basketball development. He might have had just a little too much freedom to dictate his game.

Osobor now must show whether he's NBA ready or not, that he's got enough talent to move up. He's certainly powerful enough to play with the big boys, but needs more offensive options so as not be a predictable pro. Mostly, he needs an established point guard to get him the ball in the right places.

Great Osobor huddles with his UW teammates. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Osobor is an extremely bright and analytical kid who can make the necessary adjustments to turn himself into an NBA player. He's built for exposing man-to-man defenses. He just needs a few tweeks to his game.

Following Sunday's overtime loss to Oregon, the big man said his next stop would be to train in New Jersey, accompanied by his agent and others. He sounded hopeful enough about taking the next step.

Osobor once was mentioned as a possible late second-round draft pick. He'll find out soon enough if a 13-18 UW season did any damage to his NBA pursuits.

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