Gabe Osabuohien Announces He Will Return to WVU Next Season

West Virginia senior forward Gabe Osabuohien will return to WVU for the 2021-22 season, he announced on the Final Fourcast Podcast Tuesday evening.

Finally, some good team news for WVU fans … Gabe is back for 2021! 🙏🏻 @Go22_Lt @jflow41 pic.twitter.com/hPs01BtvMV

— Final Fourcast Podcast + BEST VIRGINIA (@finalfourcast) March 31, 2021

In a conversation with former Mountaineer John Flowers, Osabuohien said the decision to return for next season was a combination of how this season ended and all the COVID precautions that made the season strange.

“First off, I did lose my senior night. You know I can’t go out like that,” Osabuohien said. “And just the way we went out of the tournament. We’ve got a whole year to come back and get better, add more pieces that we need and work with the pieces we’ve got now to do something special. It’s unfinished business, I’m coming back for sure”

In his second season as a Mountaineer, Osabuohein averaged 1.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 2.2 assists in 29 games. He was again the team’s defensive specialist off the bench, being named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team after the regular season.

Despite being a senior, Osabuohien can choose to return next season because of the NCAA’s blanket eligibility waiver. Osabuohien is one of two seniors on WVU’s roster this season that can return for another year, although the other, guard Taz Sherman, has not yet announced a decision and is testing out the NBA waters currently.

Osabuohien’s return should help stabilize WVU’s roster next season as there are question marks surrounding Sherman and fellow guard Sean McNeil, who also has an eye on the NBA this offseason. Juniors Jordan McCabe and Emmitt Matthews have also announced they intend to transfer out of the program.