Oglesby returns to PTL, out of slump

NORTH LIBERTY - The painful memory of a season-long shooting slump didn't throw off Josh Oglesby's jumper Sunday night.

So why would a little pinkie wrap?

The Iowa junior-to-be broke his finger on the bottom of a backboard and missed his first four Prime Time League games this summer. He returned Sunday night and drained shots from all over the perimeter. Oglesby scored 26 points and made seven of 11 three-pointers while helping his team - which also featured Hawkeye guard Devyn Marble - to a 134-98 blowout victory, its first win of the summer.

“It was fun,” he said. “I haven't really gone live for three or four weeks, so it was nice to get out here and get up and down a little. I'm getting way more excited for this year and the potential for this [Iowa] team.”

The Hawkeyes could have used that kind of sharpshooting from Oglesby last season. He played 16 minutes per game as the team's long-range specialist. But he struggled all season, and his three-point percentage fell from 37 percent as a freshman to just 27 percent last year.

“I was shooting so well in practice last year and then I'd get to the game and I wouldn't make anything,” he said. “It was real frustrating.”

Oglesby immediately showed that slump wasn't going to carry over to summer, swishing a three-pointer for the first points of the game. With that, Coach Kevin Sanders knew the sharpshooter was back.

“I started smiling. I was really happy,” Sanders said. “He makes a huge difference. I was glad to have him … He brings an added dimension to the team, and that was why I selected him with my second pick [in the PTL draft].”

That added dimension helped Marble have perhaps his best game of the Prime Time League. He had a triple-double with 35 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He said after the game it wasn't a coincidence that it happened Sunday night.

“It helps a lot,” Marble said of Oglesby's return. “I was able to do what I wanted off the dribble, because I've got shooters around me. I can take time and set him up coming off screens. I'm able to dissect the defense when he's bringing that kind of spacing.”

Oglesby entered the summer wanting to speed up the release on his shot. He showed a quicker flick of the wrist, making shots running off screens, and with defenders leaping at him.

“That was a struggle last year,” he said. “The athletes in the Big Ten are right up on you. You have to get your shot off quicker, so I've been working on that.”

Oglesby looked down at the floor briefly when talking about his slump from last season. He said Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery kept his confidence afloat last season by encouraging him to keep shooting. While he would like to wash the memory of last season completely from his mind, Oglesby said he can't, because he needs to carry it with him to this year.

As if those mind games weren't enough, he had a splint on the pinkie finger of his shooting hand for his first live action in a month.

But that's a lot to think about. Sunday night, Oglesby was just shooting. And he was on fire.

“It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My finger's feeling good,” he said. “I was feeing good today.”