MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU senior forward Gabe Osabuohien scored just twelve points in three games at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic. But it is highly unlikely that the Mountaineers would have been able to bring the tournament trophy back home from South Dakota without Osabuohien’s contributions. He was West Virginia’s third-leading rebounder in the tourney despite averaging just 18 minutes a game. He also led the team with 4 steals.
Osabuohien may not generate the national buzz or the stats of a Derek Culver, Oscar Tshiewbe or Deuce McBride. But he has found a niche as one of West Virginia’s most versatile defenders.
“Gabe guards anybody,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “We can put Gabe on a point guard, we can put him on a center.”
“Being a high-major, Division I athlete, you are definitely going to be the best player on your high school team. And when you come to a team of 12 or 13 people just like you, some people have better talents at different aspects of the game. I was just looking at how I could impact the game and that’s going to lead to playing time on the court.
“Doing the little stuff, you recognize yourself helping the team win. Whether is it taking a charge here or there, changing momentum or getting stops consistently, I definitely take a lot of pride in it.”
Osabuohien played his first two seasons at Arkansas before transferring to WVU in the summer of 2019. He was fourth on the Mountaineers in rebounding, assists and blocks while finishing third in steals last season. Osabuohien says he found ways to contribute in a similar fashion while playing for the Razorbacks.
“Being a young player my freshman year at Arkansas, I think we had six seniors that year. One of my biggest things was, how was I going to play? Doing what the six seniors weren’t going to do, just the little stuff ended up getting me a whole lot of playing time on the court as a freshman.”
Standing at 6-foot-7, Osabuohien is one of West Virginia’s best frontcourt players in distributing the basketball. In the South Dakota tournament, he dished out seven assists against just three turnovers.
“The knowledge of the offense, just knowing what I am looking for when we run specific sets, I know we are looking at specific players for every set. So just knowing what you are looking for comes with it too. And just being confident and being able to deliver the ball to them.”
Osabuohien is a native of Toronto, Canada and when he made the decision to leave Arkansas, a connection with WVU assistant Larry Harrison led him to Morgantown.
“One of my coaches from Canada, Ro Russell, he had a great connection with (assistant) coach (Larry) Harrison. When I did decide to transfer, they were one of the first teams to reach out to me.
“Knowing what West Virginia basketball is all about, the toughness, playing hard, everything about West Virginia is tagged with being tough. West Virginia definitely caught my eye, knowing I could come here and play my style and it would match the team’s play style.”