One of the NCAA transfer portal’s top-scoring college basketball forwards is set to visit Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. Great Osobor, a 6-foot-8 forward who previously played at Montana State and Utah State, will be in Lexington from April 29 to May 1.
Osobor also plans to visit Louisville (May 1-3), Texas Tech (May 4-6), and Washington (May 7-9). After spending the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons in a reserve role at Montana State, Osobor had a breakout campaign last season with the Aggies.
He averaged 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game at Utah State, starting all 35 contests. Osobor recorded 15 double-doubles and was named the Mountain West Conference’s player of the year and newcomer of the year.
According to college basketball statistician Evan Miyakawa, Osobor is ranked as the No. 47 overall player in the NCAA transfer portal. He had a 58% effective field goal percentage and a 60.3% true shooting percentage last season, excelling at drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line.
Despite not being a 3-point threat, Osobor emphasized his aggressive playstyle and ability to draw fouls as key aspects of his game. He made 63.4% of his free throws last season and attempted only 18 career 3-pointers across three college seasons.
Osobor has played under Danny Sprinkle for all three of his previous college basketball seasons, with Sprinkle serving as the head coach at both Montana State and Utah State during Osobor’s tenure. Sprinkle recently left Utah State to become the new head coach at Washington.
Osobor, who entered the NCAA transfer portal in early April, will make his final recruiting visit to Washington next month. Over the past three seasons, Osobor has participated in the NCAA tournaments, winning consecutive Big Sky Tournament titles with Montana State in 2022 and 2023 before securing an at-large bid with Utah State last season.
Utah State’s last game of the season was a round-of-32 NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national runner-up Purdue.
Sprinkle noted that much of Utah State’s offensive strategy, including the tactics that made Osobor such a standout player, was influenced by Purdue’s style of play. He mentioned borrowing offensive sets from Purdue coach Matt Painter and his staff, emphasizing their approach of feeding the post from the top down.
An intriguing connection exists regarding Kentucky’s pursuit of Osobor as a significant transfer portal addition. Osobor is represented by agent George Langberg, who also represents Amari Williams, another England native who recently committed to the Wildcats from Drexel via the transfer portal. Osobor and Williams were teammates at Myerscough College in Preston, England. Kentucky officially announced Williams as a transfer portal addition on Tuesday afternoon.
Pope has been extremely active over the past week-plus as he constructs his inaugural UK basketball roster from the ground up. Aaron Bradshaw (formerly of Ohio State), Joey Hart (previously at Ball State), and Zvonimir Ivisic (formerly at Arkansas) are among the players from the 2023-24 Kentucky squad who have decided to transfer to new schools. Furthermore, Jordan Burks, Adou Thiero, and D.J. Wagner are still in the NCAA transfer portal.
Thiero is considering a return to Kentucky among his final five options, which also include Arkansas (where he would reunite with Calipari), Indiana, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh. Additionally, several players from last season’s team, including Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Ugonna Onyenso, and Reed Sheppard, have declared for the 2024 NBA draft.
Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves have completed their college eligibility. Collin Chandler, a versatile guard who was previously committed to BYU, announced last week that he would be joining Pope at Kentucky. Chandler, a highly regarded four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, took a two-year mission trip before deciding to play college basketball.
His arrival at Kentucky was officially announced on Monday. Pope secured his first transfer portal addition of the offseason on Sunday afternoon when Williams committed to UK. Then, on Monday night, Perry, who holds the title of the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school boys basketball history, confirmed his commitment to Pope and the Wildcats.
With these additions, the UK basketball roster for next season currently stands at three scholarship players. College basketball players have until May 1 to enter the transfer portal, while the early-entry deadline for the 2024 NBA draft is April 27. Players who enter the draft with remaining NCAA eligibility will have until May 29 to withdraw their names from consideration and return to school.
