Olaseni plays best ball through deepest pain

IOWA CITY - In the final seconds of a 70-49 win against Northern Illinois, Iowa center Gabe Olaseni was embraced by teammates as he approached the Hawkeyes' bench.

The 6-foot-10 senior from London, England learned his father had died earlier that day. He played through his sadness and unleashed his emotions. The moment crystallizes for Olaseni, who will return to England after Friday's game. There's also no denying Olaseni has played his best basketball in the wake of his father's passing.

In his last five games, Olaseni has led Iowa in rebounding three times. He averages nearly 11 points and 6.6 rebounds a game over that span. He's shooting nearly 64 percent and 20 of his 33 rebounds are offensive. He's also blocked 14 shots, dished three assists, grabbed two steals and allowed just two turnovers.

'Obviously with the recent events people look toward that, like I'm playing for something more than myself,” Olaseni said. 'I feel as I'm always playing for my family. I feel like I'm playing for my country. A lot of guys they see a British guy on the scouting report and they're like, ‘OK, let's see where the guy's from.' If they're from Chicago or Los Angeles they take them more seriously.”

Olaseni, 22, played soccer rather than basketball before age 14. As his skills increased, he moved to Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kan., for a year of prep school. He signed with Iowa in April 2011, but all parties knew it would take time for Olaseni to move from athletic marvel to dominant-caliber player.

'When they recruited me they told me it's not going to be an overnight thing,” Olaseni said. 'It's going to be a yearly process, and that's something I really respected about them because other teams were telling me I could come in and be a star basically, and I knew that wasn't the case.”

Olaseni played in barely half of Iowa's games as a freshman. His role expanded as a sophomore and grew immensely as a junior. He took 71 shots his sophomore year and nearly doubled it to 140 last year. He averaged 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds, up from 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds his sophomore season. This year he's up to 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.

Strength and work ethic have contributed to his development, but Olaseni quickly concedes it's the mental growth and muscle memory that have elevated his play. Early in his career he struggled in games and got down on himself for a blown assignment or missed shot. That's no longer the case.

'I think everyone works hard,” he said. 'That's what I realized earlier. You can continuously work in the gym but if you don't do it when the lights come on, then it doesn't really equate to much. You have to take advantage of your opportunities.”

Olaseni credits former teammates Andrew Brommer and Devon Archie along with current players Aaron White, Adam Woodbury and Jarrod Uthoff for helping him refine his game. White is Olaseni's roommate and the two arrived on campus at the same time.

'Obviously when he got here, it was well-documented that he hadn't been around the game that long and a lot of basketball is feel,” White said. 'I think he's picked up on that. He's got a great feel for the game. He makes some nice inside passes, but at the same time he goes and gets his when he has a mismatch.

'He's still using athleticism, and he's just understanding the game more and more.”

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery has seen strides in Olaseni's game and said he's 'a lot more comfortable” on the court.

'It used to be that as long as he was in the open floor, he was fine,” McCaffery said. 'If he got in traffic, he had problems.

'Now he's playing in the open floor, and he's playing in traffic, he's playing defense, he's protecting. There's just no panic in his game.”

Olaseni plans to leave Saturday for England, when he said the realization of his father's death 'will hit me a lot harder than it has, even though it has hit me hard.” But he credits his coaches and teammates for helping him through the emotional stress of the last two weeks.

'Things haven't changed. They still treat me the same way, which is kind of unfortunate - they bully me,” Olaseni said with a laugh. 'It's a great group of guys. The coaching staff put their arms around me. Everyone has embraced me.

'But you have to understand that there's a certain level of professionalism. People deal with stuff all the time. You just have to clear your mind and go out there and do what you're out there to do.”

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