Ouedraogo Getting 'Big Ten Body' Stronger

Derrick Walker had one immediate reaction when he first learned Yvan Ouedraogo – all 6 feet, 9 inches and 260 pounds of him – was a mere 17 years old.
 
"I thought he was lying. I thought his paperwork was messed up," Walker said, laughing. "That's a blessing to be that big at 17. He's a man child."
 
Ouedraogo has heard it all before. The jokes about if he's really 17. People really do a double take, though, when he tells them he never lifted weights.
 
"Yeah, he told me that, too," Walker said. "And when we got to the weight room, you could tell."
 
But, Walker said, that didn't define him.
 
"Even though he never lifted weights, he was still strong," Walker said. "Lifting weights just adds to him being a beast."
 
Walker and Ouedraogo, newcomers to the Nebraska men's basketball team, are two of the Huskers' biggest players. But the 6-8, 235-pound Walker, a transfer from Tennessee, must sit out this season, while Ouedraogo, a true freshman from France, will play.
 
He'll have to play, given Nebraska's lack of frontcourt size and girth.
 
"Yvan is a big, physical body. Sometimes you forget just looking at him and his body, and you forget he's 17 years old," first-year Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He's got a long ways to go, but that will come with age and maturity. He's got a Big Ten body already."
 
Since his arrival to Lincoln in late summer, Ouedraogo is doing a better job of collapsing the defense and opening shots for perimeter players, Hoiberg said. And his rebounding will be essential on a team that will have a size disadvantage at almost every position in most games this season.
 
Of course, Wednesday night's debut at Pinnacle Bank Arena may not be one of those games. Nebraska hosts NAIA Doane in its lone exhibition, the first chance for Husker fans to see Hoiberg's team in action.
 
Hoiberg, though, is more concerned about games like Saturday's closed scrimmage at Wichita State, when the Shockers outrebounded Nebraska 51-36, with 17 offensive boards. That's where Ouedraogo, as he matures and improves, will be needed most.
 
"He's going to have to be a huge part of our rebounding efforts," Hoiberg said. "Obviously, he's going to be guarding the biggest guy on the floor, and he's going to have to do a great job with his physicality in there."

Ouedraogo, who chose Nebraska over offers from TCU, Vanderbilt, Oregon, Penn State, Georgia Tech and a list of mid-major conference teams, said he picked Nebraska because he trusts Hoiberg, and he fits his style of play.
 
"It's really the flow," Ouedraogo said. "We're running plays, but you get to read the defense. That's more like an NBA style of play. That's why I really like it.
 
"I can play with a lot of versatility and I'm really fast for a big man, both on defense and offense. I can handle the ball for myself."
 
In practice, Ouedraogo is listening intently to instructions and advice from Walker about playing inside on the major collegiate level. Walker got a taste of banging bodies down low in his two seasons playing off the bench in the Southeastern Conference.
 
"Just teaching him the rules of the game, the ins and outs, what he can and can't do," Walker said. "He's still young. He doesn't have the experience of playing college yet. So teaching him footwork, body positioning, things like that will go a long way toward helping him out."   
 
Walker admits he's had a difficult time preparing for no action this season, but says he's doing his part to help a team loaded with newcomers work hard and play together.
 
"We're small," he said, "so we have to out-play other teams for us to win."            
 
Hoiberg wasn't ready to announce a starting lineup for Wednesday's exhibition, but chances are likely Cam Mack will be part of it. The sophomore transfer from Salt Lake Community College scored a team-best 17 points and had six assists and six rebounds, also team highs, in the scrimmage against Wichita State.
 
"Cam just brings a whole different element to our team," Hoiberg said. "He's extremely fast with the ball. If there's a seam to attack, he hits that seam with great pace. He's a very good decision maker, once he gets in there, guys benefit playing with him."
 
Mack, who was hospitalized with a digestive issue over the summer that caused him to miss the Huskers' tour in Italy, has just begun to regain his strength and weight.
 
"You can really see him starting to take off," Hoiberg said.
 
Hoiberg likes his team's competitive spirit and fight and is eager to see it on display for the first time in a real game scenario. For the most part in the Wichita State scrimmage, he said, he saw a team battle hard when faced with adversity.
 
"This is what everything we've been through up to this point is all about getting ready for that first opportunity to get on the floor," Hoiberg said. "This is the real thing now."

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.