Bob Huggins almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Fifth year senior Gabe Osabuohien, not particularly known for his offense, was routinely making shots in large part due to the work that he put into it on his own time.
“I didn’t work with him at all. I didn’t spend any time with him on his shooting, that’s all him. He was in here every day, pretty much all day,” Huggins said.
It was a limited sample size, but there does seem to be some merit to his improvement on the offensive end of the floor if the Gold-Blue Debut can be used as an example. Osabuohien finished 4-7 from the floor with 10 points and was noticeably more confident in his shooting and abilities on that end. That has spilled over to the early portion of the schedule as well with there being noticeably more comfort.
Prior to that scrimmage, he had only hit the 10-point mark three times in his career in Morgantown.
He's not going to be confused for Sean McNeil, but if Osabuohien is able to become more of a threat on the offensive end it is obviously a boost to the overall product.
“His mechanics were horrible and he’s really cleaned them up,” Huggins said.
The former Arkansas transfer elected to spend so much time on the offensive end almost immediately after the loss to Syracuse in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. It also was there that the decision was solidified that he would be back for another season.
Osabuohien has largely filled the role of an effort guy that plays strong defense and rebounds the basketball in his first two years with the program. He expects that role to continue, but there is obviously more of a need for him to contribute in all areas.
“I think my role changes a little bit more where I have to help the team way more in every aspect,” he said. “The role definitely gets bigger but it’s still the same role.”
It isn’t just shooting that Osabuohien has tried to improve but also his passing and defense. He also has been cognizant of how to avoid some of the fouls that sent him to the bench at times last year. In order to make an impact for the Mountaineers, Osabuohien has to be on the floor and must find the balance of playing hard and smart in order to accomplish just that.
There’s a lot of unknown with this team but also optimism despite some of the off-season losses. And overall, Osabuohien believes that the team as a whole is starting to gel after off-season turnover and a number of new faces being added into the program.
“We’re getting to that point where we’re figuring out what everybody is good at,” he said.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @JaredSerre
•Like us on Facebook
