Remember Senior Day four years ago? Texas Tech was 2-14 in conference play and on their way to finishing last place in the conference. The only scholarship player honored was Robert Turner, as were a couple walk-ons in Clark Lambert and Luke Adams. The starting center that day? A freshman named Norense Odiase.
The Red Raiders went on winning that game on a DeVaugntah Williams game winner, but that season was a rough one to watch. Not many people filled the stands those days. While the previous season filled to seats thanks to Jaye Crockett, Jordan Tolbert and Dusty Hannahs among others, this group was inexperienced and relatively unknown.
Not only was the record and players different, but so were the coaches and players. Tubby Smith was in the middle of bringing the dumpster fire of a program back to relevancy once again and his coaching style was completely different from the way Texas Tech plays today (Remember passing the ball around for 20 seconds before searching for a shot?).
Odaise was a bigger kid who could power his way in the paint, box out for rebounds and play with his back to the basket. He reminded me originally of DeJuan Blair of Pitt because of his combination of power and size despite being listed at just 6-foot-8. And he was good playing that way too, averaging 7.0 ppg/4.7 rpg/50% shooting his freshman year and 8.5/4.2/51% his sophomore year.
But then came a coaching change. Smith bailed to Memphis (where he lasted two years) and the Red Raiders brought home long-time Texas Tech assistant coach Chris Beard. And with Beard came a new offense, dependent on movement and versatility, especially in his big men. Unfortunately, Odiase didn’t quite look like the typical big man for Beard at the time.
To be honest, because of that reason, I thought he was going to transfer. Why would Odiase stay with a new coach and a system where a guy like him wasn’t going to be a huge factor? Well, he didn’t transfer. Instead, he transformed his body more than anybody we’ve seen the past few years and worked on his craft to become a great player in the new system.
He went from 240 pounds to a fit 250 pounds. Now he’s able to fight the best big men in the Big 12 for a rebound, run down the floor, fight for an offensive rebound, and slam it on the other end. When he’s switched on defense, he’s capable of guarding that player. If the switching is not perfect at time, he’s going to make that player work to get a good shot. And even though he doesn’t have a three point shot, he can stretch the floor with his ability to make long field goals.
Although there may not be any particular moments we remember from the NCAA tournament last year, he has become his own version of the Kansas Killer. Not like Darryl Dora with his ridiculous shots to win the game, but he has been a thorn in the side of Jayhawks the past couple years.
He had a double-double while dominating Udoka Azubuike last season, grabbing important offensive rebounds to give Texas Tech an early lead. Do you remember hearing Dedric Lawson’s name in this season’s match-up in Lubbock? Probably because he only made a couple field goals, and basically did nothing with Odiase guarding him. He also grabbed eight more rebounds than the possible Big 12 player of the year.
So my plea to Red Raiders fans is this. I know y’all were incredibly loud for Jaye Crockett’s senior day and Toddrick Gotcher’s senior day. Same for Keenan Evans, Zach Smith and Justin Gray last season. I hope you show the same energy and passion as you did for the previous guys. He may not have the gaudy stats this season, but he as much to do with the change of this program than almost anybody. We owe him that at least.