Great Osobor hasn’t played a game for the Washington Huskies yet, but may already be the most decorated player in the nation. On Thursday, the 2023-24 Mountain West Player of the Year was named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Top 20 Watch List, an award that is given out annually to the nation’s top player at the position.
Osobor is one of four Big Ten players to find their name on the list, joining Illinois’ Will Riley, Indiana’s Malik Reneau, and Maryland’s Julian Reese.
A dominant big man is essential to success in the Big Ten, and the Huskies have one in Osobor, who averaged 17.7 points and 9 rebounds with Sprinkle at Utah State, and he’ll also have some help. Center Franck Kepnang can be a dominant force down low thanks to his energy on both ends of the floor and proved that he can take a lot of pressure off Osobor in Washington’s 105-68 exhibition win over Western Oregon on Tuesday.
He posted 12 points and 2 rebounds while going 6-for-7 from the field, which shows that opposing defenses won’t always be able to commit all their resources to Osobor, who also has the ability to stretch the floor, which should help improve his odds at taking home the award at the end of the season.
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