Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – When Damilola Osuma is on the floor, there's a notable difference in everything the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team does.

He's the anchor of their defence – making life in the paint miserable for opposing bigs.

He's the inside presence of their offence – the big man who can take on any post in Canada West.

"I think he can be one of the best posts in the conference when he's done," said Griffins head coach Mike Connolly of the second-year product out of Calgary's CTA TopFlight Academy. "He can score on any post. He's just got to become more consistent with his rebounding, more consistent with his defensive effort. When he defends, we're great as a team. When he is kind of apprehensive, we're not very good. 

"He anchors our defence. And it's not just blocking shots, it's his activity – he deflects shots, he moves. He's really growing. He's still got a long way to go, but we're really happy with the progression."

Osuma will lead the Griffins into home action vs. cross-town rival Alberta on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

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Beginning to play his best ball of the season, Osuma produced his season-high in points with 14 in 19 minutes against Trinity Western on Jan. 6.

"I've definitely gotten better, for sure," he said. "I've been getting better on skills, weightlifting and all that. I see the difference, for sure.

"I would say the first thing was getting in shape, getting in the gym with conditioning – just getting my body better."

Conditioning is a big reason behind a slow start for Osuma that's limited him to just 18.7 minutes per game average through 12 games (eighth on the Griffins).

"He had some issues in August that derailed him from his training and it was basically a month off," said Connolly of the Dr. E.P. Scarlett product out of Calgary. "What he did is he got out of shape. He's just starting to get back in shape. It's like last year. It took him until Christmas and now he's starting to (shine)."

Dami Osuma blocks UFV's Dhivaan Bhogal during a game earlier this season (Robert Antoniuk photo).

Eventually, the hope is to keep Osuma on the court for more than 25 minutes a game because his ultimate ceiling is pretty high.

"I think he can be a guy, depending on our team record, he could be a Canada West all-star," said Connolly. "I think he's in that calibre. He's scoring at will on other teams. Once we get going more, it will become more consistent, and it will be from Day 1 in September instead of just gradually getting into it.

"He competes, he works hard, so it's just growing and learning. We're teaching these kids everything from how to eat, how to sleep, how to take care of themselves."

In the meantime, the minutes are being spread around on a team with multiple potential contributors.

"We like the model 'next man up,' " said Osuma. "If someone's not contributing, the next man up should contribute and help the team out. I think everyone's done that pretty well."

Osuma notes that's part of the team's culture, too, which has been building the right way. 

"We're getting so much better," he said. "We're playing more as a team; we're helping each other out. Even off the court, we're together, bonded more. We like each other a lot. We hang out off the court, which I think helps on the court, as well."

Eventually, that stands to pay off with wins. Right now, it's still about the process, but that doesn't mean MacEwan won't be trying tooth and nail to top their cross-town rivals this weekend. 

It will all start with good defence.

"We have to control their transition and we have to stop their threes," said Connolly. "They shoot the ball as a team 40 per cent from the three. They have four or five guys that shoot that. We have to do a good job contesting. You're not going to stop them, but we need to make everything hard. That's our goal. 

"We have to defend and rebound, that's our first priority. After that, we'll get out and run and we'll see. If we shoot the ball well, we shoot the ball well. We're still inconsistent, but we're getting better. I think the biggest thing is to focus defensively for the whole game."