Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro bringing positional versatility to the NBA

Marquette center Osasere “Oso” Ighodaro’s basketball journey is the embodiment of patience.

Ighodaro, the 6-foot-11 big man known for his passing skills and ability to create opportunities for his teammates, only played a total of 38 minutes his freshman year at Marquette before becoming a rotational player his sophomore year and eventually an impact player as a junior and senior. He’s projected as a second-round pick in the NBA draft June 26.

Unlike his peers, Ighodaro didn’t play AAU or organized basketball until he was a freshman in high school. Ighodaro grew up in a strict, academics-focused household. Extracurriculars were secondary.

“I wanted to play basketball, so the emphasis that was put on academics made my life easier going forward because I was able to get a finance degree and a business administration master’s,” Ighodaro said. “It wasn’t as difficult for me because I have that strong foundation. This has always been the standard of my family. There wasn’t really an option. That’s what you did in the Nigerian culture.”

His father, Osaro Ighodaro, came to the United States in 1985 on a basketball scholarship. Although a soccer player in his youth, the 6-foot-9 Osaro Ighodaro transitioned to basketball and eventually earned three degrees from Northern Arizona University.

Osaro Ighodaro was adamant that his children focus on academics after noticing a lot of children who specialized in basketball at the ages of 3 and 4 faced burnout before they got to school. Focusing on academics and not competitive basketball still allowed Ighodaro the opportunity to improve his skills on the court.

“There was a lot more focus on skill development. I think just that’s all [Osaro] knew, and so that’s what he did with the kids,” Dawn Ighodaro, Ighodaro’s mother, said. “They obviously weren’t in competitive sports and so you just break down the [fundamentals] and you focus and get better. My husband took the kids and taught them tennis, soccer and basketball – just all skill stuff – and he did that with them like every weekend.”

During the week, the television wasn’t on in the Ighodaro household. Ighodaro didn’t own his first game console until he purchased a PlayStation with his high school graduation money. His Nigerian roots and familial upbringing are extremely important to him and he credits the culture he learned from his father and family for shaping him.

“Just growing up, my dad pushed me in so many ways, trying to make me the best person I can be,” Ighodaro said. “We have always had a tight-circle kind of family dynamic and that kind of helps me stay focused in this next chapter in my life that’s going to be extremely important. Just keeping my circle small and continuing to grow and push myself in different areas.”

His work ethic acquired from academics seamlessly transitioned into basketball. Ighodaro noticed early in his collegiate career that team practices and workouts weren’t enough. He would often do additional practice and individual workouts after normal team practice.

“A lot of people really respect Oso just based off his work ethic,” said his girlfriend of three years Liza Karlan, who is currently a forward with the Notre Dame women’s basketball team. “He’s a very high-character person. He’s just kind of a natural leader. He takes people with him. He has a lot of passion for obviously basketball, but making other people around him better.”

Four years of college was a learning process for Ighodaro. His upbringing with his parents allowing him to pursue different activities outside of basketball helped him maintain his passion for the game and develop interests off the court.

“I’ve been realizing how important it is to have an identity outside of basketball and not trying to tie myself so much to feedback and the outcomes of workouts and games,” Ighodaro said. “Just having a strong base and a strong foundation in myself outside of basketball so on the court doesn’t faze me as much. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve been learning about myself.”

Even amid frustration on the basketball court, Ighodaro’s character always shine through for his teammates. When Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell arrived on campus as a freshman, his first interaction with Ighodaro was a text message offering to give Mitchell his television.

“We got really close during that year because being a freshman is just hard to go through stuff, but he was kind of always there for me,” Mitchell said. “He was always looking out for me asking how I’m feeling and asking what’s going on in my head because it’s such a huge transition.”

“He was a sophomore and he wasn’t really getting playing time, probably not as much as he would have wanted as a sophomore in college. But just being able to put himself aside and worry about me, care about me, and make sure I’m good, that meant a lot to me.”

Ighodaro started his college career playing in just five games his freshman year, and by the end of his senior season he had earned his second Big East second-team selection, averaging 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 57.6% from the field.

While his skills helped Marquette earn a No. 2 seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament, Ighodaro’s character off the court holds a lot of weight among his teammates. Ighodaro was the reason a lot of his teammates worked just as hard in the classroom as they did in the weight room, and he set the example for how teammates should look after one another.

When Shaka Smart took over as head coach for Marquette after Ighodaro’s freshman year, he embraced him. Ighodaro’s teammates followed suit.

“He’s got a special way about him with his teammates. He’s team-oriented to a fault,” Smart said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you got to focus on yourself a little bit here.’ But he’s all about the team. It’s about his teammates. He’d rather see his teammates get the limelight than him. I think he’s gonna be a great fit in the NBA whichever team gets them because they want role players and they need role players. He’s fine with that.”

Coming from a tight-knit family, Ighodaro placed high importance on relationships with his teammates, coaches, and the program’s supporting staff. 

“He probably has an individual relationship with not just everyone on the team, but everyone in that whole program, whether that’s a manager and assistant coach or photographer,” Karlan said. “He has relationships with everyone and that’s hard to do, especially as an athlete. You’re busy trying to focus on your teammates and hone in on what you need to do on the court.”

When Ighodaro returned to campus a few weeks ago after being away preparing for the NBA draft, his former teammates rushed to shower him with love. Mitchell also noticed some changes in his best friend when he returned to Marquette. 

“He looked like a pro when he came back,” Mitchell said. “That was kind of just cool to see from our perspective, still being in college, seeing one of our best friends and teammates come back and just carry himself in a way that we all are striving towards.”

With a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and the promise of an NBA career within reach, Ighodaro’s once academically strict parents are fully supportive of him pursuing an athletic career.

“They ask a ton of questions every time I talk to them,” Ighodaro said. “This is a new process for us. So they just want to know constantly what’s going on.”

His mother has noticed her son’s new maturity and attended his pro day in May.

“I’ve never seen him more happy and more confident since he’s been in pre-draft training and up until now,” his mother said. “You see the development. When I see his face or I talk to him I can hear it as far as he’s just feeling he’s ready for the next step.”

Watching the NBA playoffs this year hit closer to home for Ighodaro. He’s not just watching the games for outcomes, but he can see where his skills and versatility will be valuable in the NBA because he knows after the NBA draft, the players he’s spent time analyzing will be his peers.

Ighodaro cites NBA players Draymond Green, Bam Adebayo, and Naz Reid as the ones he tries to model his game after.

“I think the ability just to switch on defense, and guard multiple positions is something that is extremely valuable. Watching the playoffs the last couple of weeks, you can see just how valuable and necessary that is,” Ighodaro said. “And on offense, just being able to read and react, not having to run plays to create shots for others. I think that role players in the NBA are so important because each team has superstars. That’s not what they’re looking for. They’re looking for guys to complement those guys, so I think I do that at a high level.”

“He can defend smaller guys and bigger guys. He can handle the ball like a smaller guy. [He] Finishes around the basket like someone with size, so he just defies position.”

— Marquette coach Shaka Smart

Smart believes Ighodaro is the epitome of a positionless player who will immediately excel in the NBA.

“I think that he will make whatever team he goes to better on the offensive and the defensive end by adding a lot to what I call connective tissue,” Smart said. ”So all the little things that make the offense run smoothly, like ball movement, creating actions, getting guys open, making the extra pass, he’s really really good at that. He can defend smaller guys and bigger guys. He can handle the ball like a smaller guy. [He] Finishes around the basket like someone with size, so he just defies position.”

While his draft workouts slowly wind down, Ighodaro is keeping his family and loved ones close and hoping that the interviews and performances at the NBA draft combine and Klutch Pro Day showed NBA teams his value and potential on the court.

“I think that the teammate and the leader that I can be is extremely valuable,” Ighodaro said. “I’m trying in these interviews to emphasize how important [winning] is to me. So if you bring me into your organization, I’m gonna bring these winning values and these traits that good teammates have.”

Mia Berry is the senior HBCU writer for Andscape and covers everything from sports to student-led protests. She is a Detroit native (What up Doe!), long-suffering Detroit sports fan and Notre Dame alumna who randomly shouts, “Go Irish.”