ExtremeRavens Posted Sunday at 11:00 AM Posted Sunday at 11:00 AM Odafe Oweh turned his iPhone camera around, his jaw fell to the floor and his right hand smacked against his forehead. Then the Ravens pass rusher flipped the camera forward. He was a few rows back from Kentucky’s bench at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Oweh’s phone shook mightily, jumbling his screen into muddled royal blue. His younger brother, Otega, dribbled the length of the floor, past two Oklahoma defenders, and flicked up a baseline floater over a third with 0.5 seconds left. That game-winning shot earned Kentucky a spot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Big bro was beside himself. “It was looking bleak,” Odafe said, having watched Otega cough up a costly turnover 20 seconds earlier. “He’s just crazy. Like the poise, the stoicism. … I wanted to run on the court. I was just so happy for him.” This No. 3 seeded Kentucky team isn’t under the NCAA Tournament spotlight the way it has been in years past. Fans loved them or hated them, but always talked about them, under John Calipari. After a 15-year Hall of Fame career in Lexington ended with a stunning upset at the hands of No. 14 Oakland, he left for Arkansas. These less-discussed Wildcats, who are set to play No. 6 Illinois on Sunday evening in the Round of 32, are piloted by a first-year coach and member of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team. Mark Pope rebuilt the entire roster. His fifth commitment was a former four-star prospect from New Jersey who played two seasons at Oklahoma, wasn’t getting much buzz nationally, and has an older brother in the NFL. Odafe has been forging a career in his own right, spending the last three seasons trying to find a consistent role along the Ravens’ defensive line. It wasn’t until this year, a 10-sack season worthy of a custom Chuck Smith hoodie in Year 4, filling a much-needed pass rush vacancy, that he broke out in the NFL. The same could be said for Otega, who transferred and made a name for himself this winter. Otega leads the Wildcats in scoring with 16.4 points per game at an impressive 49.4% shooting clip. His 4.7 rebounding average is tied for the team’s second best mark. Once thought by pundits that he might not fit into Pope’s system, Otega has become a core tenet of Kentucky’s success this season. Ravens outside linebacker Odafe Oweh has been enjoying watching his brother flourish at Kentucky this season. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) The Wildcats have a long list of March Madness heroes: Anthon Davis, John Wall and Aaron Harrison, to name a few recent ones. In Kentucky’s first-round win over Troy on Friday, Otega became the program’s first player to reach at least 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists in an NCAA Tournament game since 1996. “When he was playing at Oklahoma, he would have flashes,” Odafe said, “but obviously, the situation that he was going through there — something that a lot of us have gone through in our family of having to prove who we are because people don’t know off the jump, and we have to work our way up. I saw him do that in Oklahoma. The coach wasn’t, for whatever reason, giving him the time and the opportunities that he needed to flourish. But I always saw little spurts and little times where he would show dominance. “And I knew that if he got the opportunity to be who he is and to have a coach that believed in his game, that he would flourish. Funny enough, it came at Kentucky. That’s a school that has history. And if you do your thing there, you’re going to be immortalized, so in hindsight, it’s crazy how all of it is happening.” Pope has given Otega a long leash, and it’s paid off. Back in January, the coach said, ”From time to time I have to close my eyes and look away.” He was asked about that line on Saturday, saying, “He has an unbelievable makeup ability.” Faced with adversity, Otega responds. He did it in the SEC Tournament against Oklahoma. And he did it a month earlier, also against the Sooners, when his former fans booed him relentlessly. Otega responded by scoring Kentucky’s final 18 points, including the game-winner. “I liken it to when LeBron [James] went to the Heat,” Odafe said, “and he went back to Cleveland to play. Whenever he would touch the ball, he would get booed, and that’s what it was like in Oklahoma. Whenever the kid would touch the ball, the whole arena — and I’m not being dramatic — the whole arena would boo.” Maybe that’s the product of growing up with two competitive older brothers, Odafe and Kaylen. They battled playing video games. One-on-one in the driveway. Dunk contests. Who could shoot the farthest. Everything was a competition. That flourished into the kind of work ethic where Odafe would visit home from Penn State and barely see Otega, then still at Blair Academy, getting out the door at 5 a.m. to spend the whole day in the gym. Few are prouder than Odafe to be sitting in the stands seeing the fruits of that labor. When Otega made the second game winner to beat Oklahoma, he found Odafe with his family in the crowd. Odafe returned a look, saying, “Well, you did it.” “My prediction is Kentucky all the way,” Odafe said. “Yes, you can count on me being there. I’m training during this time, but you know I’m going to make my way there. I’m going to try to see him as much as I can because I don’t get these moments a lot.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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