Career Review: Oglesby

I did a career review of Scott Thomas and Dee Brown a couple of weeks ago and I didn't want to forget about our third senior, Torian Oglesby.  We got so used to Thomas and Brown being in the same class and part of the team that you can forget about Oglesby and the significant contribution he made at times for this team.

He was a JUCO transfer and we didn't really know what to expect of him.  He came here from Mott CC with a 10/8 line and a reputation for being a good defensive player.  I think he actually was a bigger surprise than any player we have had for a long time.  He had energy and was pretty athletic and tough, and two of those three things were not in surplus in BG.  He finished around the basket better than anyone else we had and have had, with the possible exception of Marschall, going back to the pre-WVU days.

Of course, he will forever be remembered at BG for the NCAA record he set.  He made 26 straight field throw attempts, breaking a record set in 1978.  Yes, I know they were all close to the basket, that's how you set a record like that, and I'm going to guess that over the 34 years that record existed, there were hundreds of guys who only shot near the basket and none of them made 26 in a row.

He was certainly far from a dominant player.  He averaged 4.5 PPG and 4.0 RPG during his Falcon career.  That was, however, in 16 minutes per game.  He was the 7th most efficient offensive player in the MAC, meaning that he didn't use a ton of shots to get those 4.5 PPG.  He shot 74% from the field in his senior season, which was more than twice as good as his FT%, which is something which I doubt has been done very often in NCAA hoops, if ever.

He double-doubled twice this year, against UTSA and KSU.  In total, his senior season saw 5 double figure scoring games.

Anyway, he was a role player, there's no doubt about it.  He didn't get a ton of minutes, but I do think he was valuable to the team, he had the ability to bring the crowd to its feet and he was tough, and (as mentioned) we didn't have a ton of guys like that.

Best of luck in life, Torian.