By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the second straight year, Tennessee Tech senior forward Dennis Ogbe has been selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for his success both on the hardwood and in the classroom.
Ogbe has been a staple on the Golden Eagle squad this season, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.0 points and 5.9 boards per game. He ranks second on the team in field goal percentage with a mark of .576, which is also good for seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference. He also ranks in the top 10 in offensive rebounds. For his career, the senior is tied for second on the all-time list for field goal percentage with a mark of .602. He will also play in his 113th career game tonight, tying him for 14th on the all-time list.
A strong player with outstanding knowledge of the game of basketball, Ogbe is again recognized for being a leader with great work ethic, both on the court and in the classroom. The forward has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all seven semesters of his time at Tech, has landed on the OVC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll each of the past three years, and has earned the OVC Medal of Honor twice.
Earlier this year, Ogbe was named as a 2012-13 OVC Scholar Athlete, the first time the honor has been given to a member of the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team. One of the most prestigious awards given by the Ohio Valley Conference, the Scholar-Athlete Award is the highest individual honor that can be earned by OVC student-athletes, and is given annually to three men and three women student-athletes of junior or senior status for their accomplishments in both the classroom and athletic arena, and because of their leadership qualities.
Ogbe produces solid numbers on the hardwood, but may be even more impressive in the classroom. A native of Munich, Germany, he owns an impressive 3.91 GPA in electrical engineering, including putting together a 4.0 this past semester.
Beginning his basketball career in the second grade of elementary school in a small town near Munich, Ogbe played there until 2007 when he joined the basketball club "Franken Hexer" in Nurenberg. There he averaged 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals per game in the NBBL and was selected to play in the All-Star Game (the equivalent to the USA's McDonald's High School All-Star Game), scoring 13 points in that spotlight event. In his NBBL Final Four contest, Ogbe chipped in with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Dennis is the son of Festus Ogbe and Margitta Linue.
Ogbe raises the number of Golden Eagle student-athletes named to CoSIDA Academic All-District teams since 1985 to 116. He becomes the fourth men's basketball player to earn the honor, joining Ed deHass (1987), Brent Jolly (2002), and current director of men's basketball operations Frank Davis (2009), and also becomes the first player to receive the honor twice. Ogbe is the first Golden Eagle student-athlete to grab the award this year.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America and Academic All-District is organized and voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Ogbe is one of three players from the Ohio Valley Conference to earn Academic All-District honors this year. Belmont's J.J. Mann and UT Martin's Terrence Smith also received the honor, giving the OVC three out of the five honorees in District 3.
All of the first-team players will now have their names placed into consideration for Academic All-America honors.
The Golden Eagles, along with Ogbe, tip-off tonight in the first ever "Gold Rush" game as Tech plays host to Tennessee State at 7 p.m. CT. The first 1,500 fans will receive a free "Gold Rush" t-shirt.
