Georgia's Derek Ogbeide earns first start, slowly overcomes rehab hurdles

ATHENS -- Georgia freshman forward Derek Ogbeide figured to play a prominent role for the Georgia basketball team after a promising scrimmage against Armstrong Atlantic State in early November.

So when he went down shortly thereafter with a right shoulder injury, head coach Mark Fox knew it would change the course of the season.

"I would say when that happened that was a significant moment we knew would change the next couple of months," Fox said.

Ogbeide has come a long way since then. In the nine games he has played since premiering against Kansas State with two minutes of action, Ogbeide has worked his way up to nearly 16 minutes per game in the past five, including 18-minute performances against Mississippi and a start against Tennessee on Wednesday. He'll be expected to start Saturday against No. 15 Texas A&M.

"He's getting comfortable," Fox said. "We felt the other night (against Mississippi) was the first time in which he engaged in a physical battle and felt confident. We thought he crossed a big bridge the other night in recovery. He's been practicing well. We put him in the lineup."

The start represents just how far Ogbeide has come in his recovery, although it hasn't been an easy road. He described it like being in a tunnel and said that he's "still trying to climb out," although he's more comfortable than he was when the process began.

"It was really frustrating in the beginning after missing quite a few games then having to come back to play and try and find a rhythm," Ogbeide said. "It was painstaking every day in practice, but, of course, nothing is easy. Like all things, you're going to have to eventually overcome them."

The issues Ogbeide has faced during his recovery have been twofold because he is dealing with his first major injury at this level, and he has to deal with adjusting to the challenges and differences of college basketball while having missed significant time in practice and in the weight room.

"The college game is much more physical, much faster," junior forward Houston Kessler said. "So it's definitely an adjustment for anyone, but Derek's handled it really well. He had that minor setback with his shoulder, but I think he's starting to get in a rhythm. He's starting to play really well for us."

Ogbeide is now looking to fine-tune some of the more intricate aspects of his game as he sees his minutes increase. He has a list of things he wants to work on but acknowledges it's a lot shorter than it was when his recovery started.

"Probably my scoring, most of the time, just finishing, cleaning up little baskets that I've left around," Ogbeide said. "Rebounding loose balls, 50-50 balls, the things that correlate to winning that I could definitely help out with."

Dealing with that physical aspect is imperative for Ogbeide, who makes his living in the paint going against other teams' big men and bringing down rebounds.

And this, more than anything, is what Ogbeide has had to mentally overcome to get to where he is now.

"When it first happened and I got back, there were doubts in my mind," Ogbeide said. "I was scared, I didn't want to get hurt again, I was cautious most of the time but nowadays, it's like, 'OK, I think I can put my guard down and actually play some basketball.' "

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Georgia's Derek Ogbeide earns first start, slowly overcomes rehab hurdles ."