Bio Blast: Utah State transfer forward Great Osobor

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was expected to meet with Utah State transfer forward Great Osobor on Friday, according to TheFieldOf68’s Jeff Goodman. Osobor is considered the No. 10 overall prospect in the portal, per On3, and the fifth-best still available on the market. Pope and Co. are making a significant push for the 6-foot-8, 250-pound post player.

Here’s what you need to know about one of Kentucky’s top transfer targets.

Let’s get the accolades out of the way first. Osobor is coming off a 2023-24 season that saw him win Mountain West Player of the Year and receive an All-American Honorable Mention from the Associated Press. Now a rising senior, he averaged 17.7 points, nine rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 33.6 minutes per outing as a junior this past season. He started all 35 games for Utah State while shooting 57.7 percent overall and 63.7 percent from the stripe.

And oh yeah, he’s almost always going to be the biggest dude on the floor, even if he’ll spot most opposing centers a few inches. Osobor ranked eighth in the country, per KenPom, in free-throw rate (the ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts) at 77.3 percent, rivaling Purdue’s Zach Edey (80.9 percent). If he gets in position on the block (which he does frequently — 86 percent of his shots this season came “at the rim”), the only way to stop him is by fouling. Osobor drew nearly seven fouls (6.8) per 40 minutes in ’23-24, a top-25 figure in the nation.

With Osobor leading the charge, Utah State went 27-5 on the season, winning the Mountain West behind a 14-4 mark against conference foes. It was enough to make the NCAA Tournament as an 8-seed and even win a game, as the Aggies took down 9-seed TCU in the opening round. Osobor went for 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 31 minutes. It resulted in Utah State’s first appearance in the Round of 32 since 2001.

Then-head coach Danny Sprinkle, who has since accepted the head coaching job at Washington, deserves plenty of credit for identifying Osobor as an international recruit. Sprinkle, who was coaching Montana State at the time, discovered Osobor while the latter was playing prep ball in England. After two seasons in Big Sky Country, Sprinkle then brought Osobor to Utah State with him during the 2023 offseason.

Osobor was one of only two players that followed Sprinkle from Montana State to Utah State. The head coach knew Osobor’s skills would translate up a level, which they did — and then some.

Let’s back up for just a minute though. Osobor is of Nigerian descent and lived in Spain until he was 12 years old. His family then moved to Huddersfield in England. It didn’t take long — even in a country that could not care less about basketball — for his talents to get noticed as one of the biggest and strongest kids around. Osobor was far too big to play soccer as a striker at this point, and there wasn’t enough limelight on being a goalkeeper. Basketball was the natural route.

That’s another thing about Osobor — he enjoys being the guy.

“We could be playing the Lakers,” Sprinkle told The Athletic in March, “and he’d think he’s the best player on the floor.”

“I feel like I’ve always been a pretty confident person,” Osobor told The Athletic. “If you ask me, I’ve always been the best player, even when I probably wasn’t.”

Eventually, Osobor landed at Myerscough College Basketball Academy in Preston, England where he played alongside current Drexel transfer Amari Williams (who is also being recruited to Kentucky and shares the same agent as Osobor). That’s when Sprinkle first found out about him and soon brought him stateside to beautiful Montana.

It wasn’t an immediate success for Osobor though. Although he played in 35 games for Montana State as a true freshman in 2021-22, he only averaged six points and 4.2 rebounds in 15 minutes. He improved as a sophomore in 2022-23 with 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19 minutes but was still a backup piece for the Bobcats. In fact, he was tabbed the 2022-23 Big Sky Top Reserve, but he developed into a completely different player at Utah State.

Osobor picked up two Mountain West Player of the Week awards this past season. Along with winning conference Player of the Year, he also received a First Team All-Mountain West honor and cracked the Mountain West All-Tournament Team. Osobor reached double-figures in scoring in 32 of his 35 games played. He hit at least 20 points 13 times and at least 30 points three times. Against Edey and Purdue in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, he posted 14 points, six rebounds, and two steals in 33 minutes.

Along with his ability to score in the paint at an efficient rate, Osobor is also a high-level rebounder. While he’s not quite Oscar Tshiebwe good (who is?), they share some similarities as being “under-sized” bigs with natural instincts on the glass. Osobor reached double-digits in rebounds in 16 games (15 double-doubles) in ’23-24 with a season-high 17 against Fresno State. He can pass the ball too — 19 games with at least three dimes, 11 with at least four, and two with seven.

Osobor has a soft touch around the rim. His passing ability is advanced enough to keep him from hesitating too much against double-teams. He’s also agile enough to take a slower defender off the dribble. That quickness allows him to defend outside of the paint, as well. One of his main strengths is protecting the rim. The three-point shooting has been a non-factor though, and a sub-64 percent clip from the stripe for a guy who gets over eight attempts per game isn’t ideal.

That being said, he can step in from day one as a team’s top rebounder on both ends of the floor. Surround his playmaking with a handful of shooters and the spacing will open up for all. If Kentucky can ultimately land Osobor, Pope will have one starting piece in his frontcourt locked down.