Great Osobor was a transcendent force for Utah State basketball this past season, earning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year honors in leading a historic year for the Aggies.
After the team’s latest coaching change, though, Osobor was one of several players to enter the NCAA transfer portal to scope out his options.
One of those options reportedly is with another familiar face in the state of Utah: Mark Pope.
On Friday, Osobor will meet with Pope, the former BYU coach who’s now the head coach at Kentucky, according to college basketball insider Jeff Goodman.
The 6-foot-8 forward Osobor averaged a team-high 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds as Utah State went 28-7 this past season and won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Osobor, who shot 57.7% from the field and also added 2.8 assists and 1.4 blocks per game, is seen as one of the top players in the transfer portal.
The Athletic and ESPN both rank Osobor at the fourth-best available player in the portal.
“Almost everything comes around the basket for Osobor, specifically with his back to the basket,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote. “Osobor averaged more post possessions per game this season than all but five players nationally, per Synergy. His effectiveness came as part of a Utah State offense that wasn’t loaded with shot creators or outside shooters.”
Pope, who played two seasons at Kentucky and won a national championship with the Wildcats in the mid-1990s, replaced John Calipari, who left to take over as Arkansas’ head coach.
Pope coached BYU for five seasons before getting the call to take over one of the bluebood programs.