Hoops Hype Canada has learned Toronto, ON’s Derek Ogbeide, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound big man playing ball @ Pebblebrook HS in Mabelton, Georgia has been offered a full ride from the Kennesaw State Owls.

Georgia based KSU is only 35 km’s from where Ogbeide attends post secondary (Pebblebrook HS). The Owls are in the midst of a disappointing season that finds them 4-13 overall and 1-3 in Atlantic Sun conference play. This following a conference record from last year that saw them finish 0-18 in the A-Sun Conference. To make matters worst the  Owls head coach Lewis Preston who recognized & recruited Ogbeide on a sad note is taking a temporary leave of absence as coach of the Kennesaw State team “due to medical and personal reasons,” the school announced last week.

Preston joined Kennesaw State following 13 years as an assistant NCAA coach, including three as a member of Ed DeChellis’ staff at Penn State. Prior to Penn State he had a pit stop for two years as assistant coach on Billy Donovan’s staff in Florida and before that six seasons under Mike Brey at Notre Dame.

In Preston’s two seasons at Florida he was an integral part of Florida’s recruiting, scouting, game preparation and on-court teaching, the Gators produced a 59-17 (.776) overall record, captured the 2007 Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship and went on to win its second of back-to-back national titles.

2016 Derek Ogbeide attended Monsignor Percy Johnson in Toronto during 2012-13. At MPJ he developed a reputation for being a physical specimen possessing some rare size & strength tough to find in Canada. His interior presence and stand out performances in JR level tournaments including a final four finish at the 2013 Xavier RimRocker earned praises amongst experts. Like many Canadian big men that are hidden gems Ogbeide is is fairly new to organized basketball and that’s what makes this KSU offer interesting. If Ogbeide is ‘raw’ and still learning the fundamental side of things, exploiting an opportunity to work with Lewis Preston is not a bad idea. Preston’s past with NBA talent big men is proof he may be the head owl, but also a wise owl.

Check it: Preston worked with 2007 first-round NBA draft picks Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer and second-round selection Taurean Green while at Florida. All four earned All-American honors while under his tutelage. While at Notre Dame, Preston also worked with Troy Murphy (2001) and Ryan Humphrey (2002) who were first-round NBA picks in back-to-back years, as well as NBA players Matt Carroll and Chris Quinn.

Another Canadian prospect ready to punch his ticket to the next level.  Circle the name…6’8″ 260 lbs Derek Ogbeide is definately D1 bound! Bigger question moving forward is will Canada basketball recognize his talents and send him to Dubai this summer with the U17 Canadian National Team participating in the FIBA World championships? Or at least a try out invitation.

Too much size is better then not enough.

Let’s hope they do.