New Iowa State big man Osun Osunniyi eager to expand his game as a Cyclone

AMES — Virginia never had a chance.

In the closing seconds of an NIT men’s basketball quarterfinal last game last season, the Cavaliers trailed St. Bonaventure 52-51, but a layup attempt in the final fractions of a second could have changed the outcome.

It didn’t — because former Bonnie and current Iowa State Cyclone Osun Osunniyi stood in the way.

The 6-foot-10 defensive wunderkind sprang up and swatted away the basketball, bouncing it off a handful of dejected Virginia fans as the buzzer blared.

“If I don’t block that shot, only God knows what happens,” said Osunniyi, one of college basketball’s most gifted shot erasers. “It might go in and we might be going home.”

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Instead, Osunniyi and his teammates reached the NIT semifinals. Now two of them — Osunniyi and talented guard Jaren Holmes — are graduate transfers excited to suit up for the Cyclones this season on a bigger stage, with larger goals beckoning.

“I take pride in being that last line of defense,” said Osunniyi, whose 315 career blocks dwarf the current ISU record of 235 set by Jared Homan from 2002-05. “Being able to block shots and protect the rim. But what I look to get out of this year is just to progress my offensive game. Be able to work my way out, be able to knock down perimeter shots and be able to be more comfortable on the perimeter making plays; ball handling, being a playmaker at the same time.”

If Osunniyi is able to develop as a perimeter threat, the Cyclones’ prospects for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament spike upward.

And ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger not only believes that it’s possible. It’s imperative, he said, for both Osunniyi and the Cyclones to reach peak potential.

“We have confidence in his ability to do that,” Otzelberger said. “And as we expand his game, that’s something that we’re going to hold him accountable to, to be aggressive and knock that shot down.”

Osunniyi, a two-time Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year, has never attempted a 3-point shot in college. He’s also a career 59.5 percent field goal shooter, which is largely a product of finding ways to score almost exclusively on the block. So when Otzelberger talks about wanting — no, needing — him to shoot and make trailer 3-pointers, it’s quite an adjustment.

Osunniyi welcomes it.

“(Otzelberger) said, ‘There’s gonna be times that (you’re) gonna be open,’ and he’s expecting me to shoot the shot,” Osunniyi said. “He told me if I don’t shoot the shot, he’s gonna make the team run, because he has that confidence in me. … That’s one of the things that drew me more to coming here, because they’re going to demand that I shoot those shots. They want me to shoot those shots.”

The Cyclones also want him to continue to swat away shots at an elite rate, of course. Adding one element to his game won’t subtract from the other.

“He's somebody that is elite in terms of his ability to run and move at his size, which allows him to be really impactful in ball screen defense,” Otzelberger said. “It allows him to be impactful running the floor in transition, offensive rebounding, getting to a lane and keeping plays alive and then, you know, his ability to block shots.”

Few of Osunniyi’s blocks were more impactful than the one last season at Virginia. After he’d saved the game, he waved to the crowd and wagged his finger as if to say, “no-no.” Think of that play as a coming attractions sort of highlight for the Cyclones. Osunniyi certainly does.

“When that happens, especially in hostile territory, you feel the crowd kind of just die and shut down,” Osunniyi said. “To be able to celebrate with my teammates in that type of environment was special, so I can’t wait to be able to do that in Hilton soon — just to block shots and get the crowd involved. I feed off that. I get the crowd involved, it helps me play better.”

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