Inside The Huskies

Great News for Huskies: Osobor Will Play UW Basketball

The big man reportedly will make $2 million in NIL money to come to Montlake.

Dan Raley

Great Osobor drives on Purdue during the NCAA Tournament.
Great Osobor drives on Purdue during the NCAA Tournament. / Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

Rebuilding the University of Washington basketball program just took a huge step forward and turned really expensive with Great Osobor, Danny Sprinkle's top Utah State player, revealing on Monday he has committed to the Huskies and for a hefty fee.

ESPN is reporting the 6-foot-8, 250-pound big man from Bradford, England, will receive $2 million in negotiated name, image and likeness money to spend next season in Montlake -- making him college basketball's top compensated player.

The addition of Osobor, the only player to follow Sprinkle from his previous coaching stops to the UW, immediately turns the Huskies into a Big Ten championship contender and a likely NCAA Tournament qualifier, the latter something that has happened just once over the past 12 seasons.

"I would like to thank God for putting me in this position," Osobor told ESPN. "Washington will allow me to maximize my potential as a player in my final year of college basketball. Coach Sprinkle has been with me every step of the way since I came from England and I cannot wait to help the Huskies get back to the NCAA tournament."

Osobor, 21, comes to the Huskies after being named Mountain West Player of the Year, leading Utah State to a 28-7 record and into the second round of the NCAAs, and averaging 17.7 points, 9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Heavily recruited in the transfer portal, he chose the UW over Louisville and Texas Tech.

He emerged out of the United Kingdom as a player who drew minimal college interest, first joining Sprinkle for two seasons at Montana State, where he appeared in 66 games but started only three of them.

Great Osobor will join the UW basketball team.
Great Osobor will join the UW basketball team. / Alex Martin/USA TODAY Sports

However, Osobor had a basketball awakening at Utah State that enabled him to command the large sum of money the UW's NIL interests will pay him.

He scored in double figures in 32 games, reaching 20 or more points in 13 outings. He had 15 double-doubles. He scored a season-high 32 against Air Force and had a season-best 17 rebounds against Fresno State. He shot 57 percent from the floor.

Osobor had an agent negotiate the NIL deal. It was mentioned how the player's father John is a taxi driver and his mother Mabel is a caregiver for the elderly.

He is the ninth new addition to the UW basketball roster as the new coaching staff aims high in putting together a roster.

For the latest in UW basketball or football news, go to si.com/college/basketball

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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