Huggins: Gabe Osabuohien's arrival at WVU came with personal connections not seen in the transfer portal

Jan. 29—MORGANTOWN — In the eyes of Bob Huggins, Gabe Osabuohien wasn't a get from the transfer portal, rather maybe the last of a more traditional era of finding building blocks with Division I transfers.

To be sure, the transfer portal had been up and running for a year when Osabuohien was dismissed from Arkansas and then transferred to WVU in summer 2019.

WVU STATS But, rather than fishing the forward's name off a list on a computer screen, a connection was made by Osabuohien's AAU coach in Canada, who had a personal relationship with Huggins and WVU associate head coach Larry Harrison.

"He came in and he vouched for Gabe and his character and countless other things, " Huggins said Friday, the eve of Osabuohien and WVU playing at Arkansas in the annual Big 12 /SEC Challenge. "After you sit down and talk to Gabe, you find out you don't really need anyone to vouch for him. That is so different than what the portal is."

The NCAA Transfer Portal is insensitive and numbing. It is a computer program with a list of thousands of athletes, but not a hint if any of the people behind the names have good character or the type of work ethic needed to build a winning team.

Since his arrival to the Mountaineers in 2019, Osabuohien has been a building block. His hustle and heart have made him a fan favorite. His relentless defense and willingness to take offensive fouls have made the WVU coaches fans of his.

His arrival in Morgantown was anything but impersonal, and Osabuhien's fit has been so much more than just putting a round peg into a round hole.

"The way I grew up in coaching, if we had a transfer, that's the way it pretty much was, " Huggins continued. "It was a high school coach or an AAU coach bringing them to us. We weren't out there trying to recruit them. I wasn't getting complete strangers. I was getting kids I had in camp or I knew their coaches extremely well."

Osabuohien's college career returns today where it once began—at Arkansas.

He has come so far since those early days as a young man first learning about college life with the Razorbacks (15-5, 5-3 SEC).

"I'm sure it means a little something to him, " Huggins said. "Gabe plays with great enthusiasm all the time. He's not one of those guys who is all excited one day and then dumps the next.

"He's grown up a lot. When we're younger, we have tendencies to make mistakes that you're certainly not going to make when you're older. Gabe has grown into a man. He is without question the leader and the heart and soul of our basketball team."

That could be seen Wednesday, as the Mountaineers (13-6, 2-5 Big 12) struggled in a 10-point loss against Oklahoma.

While his teammates around him struggled to make shots, Osabuohien played as if was Game 7 of the Finals, finishing with a career-high 17 points.

As the final seconds were ticking off, he pulled up his jersey to cover the disappointment of a fourth-straight loss.

Minutes later, he was still visibly shaken while speaking to the media.

It will likely be that feeling that will be on Osabuhien's mind rather than some sort of homecoming today.

After getting off to a 13-2 start, the Mountaineers find themselves in a spiral to the NCAA tournament bubble, while the Razorbacks have won five in a row.

"We've just got to lock in defensively, " he said. "If we aren't scoring and they aren't scoring, it's going to be a battle. If we're not scoring and they score, the outcome is not going to be in our favor."

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