In the meantime, he seemingly has been inspired to take his game to a higher level.

“It’s not really directly because of that,’’ Olaseni said. “I just feel as though I should be playing well.’’

Through it all, he has remained the same playful free spirit off the court.

“I’m very proud of the way he’s handled things …’’ Gesell said. “He’s such a positive influence on this team. Any time you’re around him, he kind of lifts everyone’s spirits and he’s continued to do that even through his hard times.’’

Olaseni hasn’t been completely immune to the grief. He especially wanted to stay and play in Iowa’s game at North Carolina in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge last week and when the Hawkeyes managed to win, all the emotions tumbled out.

“It all hit him Wednesday night in the locker room,’’ Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “It was kind of a unique locker room. It's about as happy a group as I've ever been around in all my years playing and coaching. Yet, he was bawling his eyes out. His teammates had their arms around him. The guys are dancing and they see him, so it was a little more about him at that point than anything else …