Wondering who was going to pick up the slack in the scoring department with the departures of Quenton DeCosey and Devin Coleman and the injuries to Josh Brown and Trey Lowe? What about that gaping hole that Jaylen Bond left down low when he graduated? Well, here’s Obi Enechionyia’s response to all that:



Freshmen Alani Moore and Quinton Rose have gotten a lot of credit for the two big victories the Owls took from Florida State and West Virginia in Brooklyn – and rightfully so. Moore hit big three after big three over the weekend, and Rose relentlessly drove to the basket against Florida State, earning himself 12 points at the charity stripe. When it comes to the star of this team, though? That claim belongs to Obi Enechionyia.

It’s not as if this was hard to see coming. Obi has had big games over his freshman and sophomore seasons, but through his first 6 in his junior campaign, he has been consistently dominating the opposition. This began in the season opener when Obi finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds in 40 minutes. He also delivered an incredible alley-oop on a fast break that displayed his freakish athleticism for someone that is 6′ 10″.

Since then, Obi has scored 20, 26, 17, 16, and 22 points in his next five games, including another double-double in the NIT Tip-Off Championship Final against West Virginia. The big man is currently averaging 20.2 points per game, almost double his sophomore average of 11.0. He’s also sitting at 9.0 rebounds per game, more than double his 3.8 posting last year.

How is he doing this? Obi has been nearly unconscious from behind the arc. 6 games into the season, he’s shooting 56.3% from three-point range. That is absolutely bonkers. Unless he is from another planet (not ruling this out yet), there’s just no way he keeps up that number. He did, however, make a large jump in his outside shooting from his freshman to sophomore years, by going from a miserable 27.9% to a very respectable 38.6%. That 10+% leap might not hold up again by the end of the year, but another improvement from his sophomore percentage makes him a dangerous threat from outside at all times.

While 6 games is a small sample size, it looks as if the Obi Enechionyia we saw in flashes over the past two years has arrived. With senior point guard Josh Brown still on the shelf, this is really anybody’s team for the taking. Obi might well be on his way to an incredible season leading the Owls, and we’re not the only ones taking notice.