SPOTLIGHT: Norense Odiase

Norense Odiase found immediate success with a double-double in his first game at Texas Tech when he scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in a win over Loyola University Maryland. The next week he had 13 points and seven rebounds against Louisiana State and Missouri State and earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week.

He had arrived, but had also just started a journey that would be tough, painful, grueling, fun, rewarding and exhilarating.

We're now four years since the three-game span in November, 2014 that started his career and Odiase will tell you that his path hasn't always been that easy. He's had to fight through multiple injuries and conquer adversity throughout his career, being limited to 20 games as a sophomore and only three games in his third year before battling back to play in all 37 games during last year's historic season. He's collected valuable experiences, positive and negative, over the past four years and is ready to use them all as a senior.

"I believe the measure of a man comes through how you push through adversity," Odiase said. "The response you have toward something is what is most important. Everything in life is different for each person. There are always going to be things that you can't control, but you can control your controllables and you can always give your maximum effort. You can control your leadership, enthusiasm and consistency. That's my job for this team. I'm need to be the most consistent leader I can be every day."

"Norense is a god-fearing, hardworking and determined young man that has a laser focus on his goals and yet is very relatable," said his mom, Osa Odiase. "Since middle school, he made up his mind he was going to play sports and quickly settled on basketball and has not relented on this. Despite the injuries and challenges he has remained determined on fulfilling his dream. I'm so proud of you son."

Odiase, who enters his fifth season at Texas Tech after receiving a medical redshirt when he broke his foot's fourth metatarsal in the third game of the 2016-17 season, is ready to be a veteran presence and a dominant player for the Red Raiders. He's transformed his body, going from being listed at 270 pounds as a freshman to now being down to 250 after dedicating himself to the weight room and conditioning program. He's coming off a season where he started 29 games in Texas Tech's run to the NCAA Elite Eight, including scoring a season-high 14 points against No. 9 Oklahoma and grabbing 11 rebounds against Texas.

"Norense is one of the most disciplined and self-motivated people that I've ever been around," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "He's an elite person and player. I've seen a lot of people embrace rehab, but he took it to another level. He improved his body and his conditioning while he was rehabbing his injury which doesn't happen very often. While he was dealing with different injuries he just attacked different parts of his body. He approached everything from conditioning to staying in-tune with the team better than I've ever seen anyone do it."

Odiase, who has already earned his bachelor's degree and is in graduate school, arrived in Lubbock in 2014 after starring at North Crowley High School and Elev8 Sports Institute. He'd play in 31 games that first season, scoring in double figures nine times and was second on the team with 20 blocked shots. His sophomore season was limited to 20 games due to injury where he missed the entire month of February and finished his second season averaging 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game that included 16-point performances against Hawaii and Sam Houston in non-conference play and 14 points against Kansas. His third season lasted only three games and after only three minutes against Kansas. A foot injury ended his season, but set him up for what he's experienced over the past two years.

"The challenge that year was sitting out having to watch my guys on the court battling and not being able to help the team," said Odiase, who has played in 91 games with 76 starts at Texas Tech. "I never doubted that I could come back and that I would come back even stronger. I have a strong background with family and coaches who have believed in me. It was a block in the road that I had to get through and I just knew I had to stay focused on my goals. I dropped weight and I think I became a better basketball player during that time by my approach to the adversity."

Working with Chris Williams in the athletic training room and John Reilly in the weight room, Odiase emerged from that challenging 2016-17 season a different player. He credits his coaches and teammates for helping him while at Texas Tech but also acknowledges the support he received growing up in Fort Worth from his coaches and family. He has a twin brother, Nick, who has graduated from Texas Tech and his parents Nick and Osa have always encouraged him to strive for more. The combination of a strong upbringing and the support around him at Texas Tech has built the player you'll see on the court this season.

"I was taught from a young age to come in everyday ready to work," said Odiase, who earned All-Big 12 Academic First-Team honors last season. "If you had a bad day yesterday you have to put it behind you and move forward. The coaches I've had throughout my life always wanted me to give everything I had on the court and seize the moments. The only way to get better is to push all the limits. I always had big aspirations for myself and a vision for myself. Working hard has never failed me and I'm just going to keep doing what got me here."

Odiase is one of four seniors on this year's team, joining Brandone Francis, Tariq Owens and Matt Mooney who will all be looked at to lead and contribute in their final year of college basketball. They each bring their own skillset and will be asked to contribute in different ways in their final year of college basketball.

"What I respect the most about Norense is the work ethic and toughness that he brings to our team," said Owens, who transferred from St. John's to play his senior season with Odiase and the Red Raiders. "He has great leadership qualities that we will need for the season."

"Norense is a great teammate," added Mooney, who transferred in from South Dakota this season. "When I came to Tech he welcomed me right away. He's battled injury and adversity and is very driven to make his senior year the best yet."

Odiase, who has four games in his career with 16 points and four double-digit rebound performances, has shown he can be dominant. At 6-foot-9, he has the capability of controlling the lane where he has secured 396 rebounds and has 49 blocked shots in his career. Now, with one year and big goals in front of him, Beard believes Odiase has the potential to produce throughout the season.

"He's been working hard to find another level of consistency this year," Beard said. "He's played really good basketball throughout his career but needs to bring his best level every night. Last year at Kansas he was one of the best players on the floor and proved he can do it against the top competition. Now it's just trying to find that consistency when he's producing every game. He'll be our anchor defensively with his rebounding and protecting the basket. I really think he can be one of the better rebounders in the Big 12 this season."

Today is Oct. 1 and we are just a little more than one month from beginning the season on Nov. 6 against Incarnate Word at the United Supermarkets Arena. Odiase and his team are coming to work every day to prepare and be ready. They understand the expectations and are excited about the opportunity to build on a year that saw 27 wins and the program's first trip to the NCAA Elite 8.

Norense Odiase's journey at Texas Tech saw immediate success and it's also had a lot of adversity. The 16 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 14, 2014 was his introduction but a lot that has happened since then. He's experienced the challenges of injuries and he's celebrated with his teammates as they made their way through the NCAA tournament. Now, he finds himself ready to start his fifth season where he's committed to leaving a legacy and leading the Red Raiders.

"I'm a leader," Odiase said. "My job is to lead these guys on and off the court by instilling confidence in them every day. I feel I have a wisdom for the game, our system and our culture and how we need to approach everything. When you're coming off a season like we are there are expectations, but we're ready for them. This is a new group with a lot of new players, but they all came in ready to play and get after it. We want to be the best defensive team in the country, we want to limit our turnovers and be the most consistent team we can be. If we do that, we'll have success this season."

Players Mentioned

Brandone Francis

Matt Mooney

Norense Odiase

Tariq Owens

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