By Thomas Corhern
Cookeville Herald-Citizen Sports
COOKVILLE, Tenn. -- A solid standout and a leader on the basketball court. An excellent student in the classroom. A fixture in the community.
There are certain criteria that the Tennessee Tech Man and Woman of the Year awards ask for each year, and it's not an easy feat to meet all three.
But for Tech men's basketball senior Dennis Ogbe, it wasn't just something to strive for, it was what he expected from himself.
Ogbe was selected as the 2014 Tech Athletics Man of the Year, and he built a pretty impressive resume over the 2013-14 academic year.
"There is no doubt about whether he deserved this award," Tech men's basketball head coach Steve Payne said. "If you had a son, you'd want him to be like Dennis. If you had a daughter, you'd want her to marry a guy like Dennis. He really is a tremendous person and we're going to miss him. There are guys who are low-maintenance, then there are guys who are no-maintenance like Dennis.
"In electrical engineering, I never had to worry about him academically. He always had it under control. He was just a joy, and, on top of that, his character. He's going to be where he's supposed to be. He's going to do what he's supposed to do. He's going to be a good role model. He just gets all of that."
Among the other finalists were Jordan Johnson (football), Jerry King (football), Matt Marseille (basketball), Lamar Moore (football), James Normand (football), Wesley Sherrill (football), Zach Stephens (baseball) and Zach Zarzour (baseball).
Ogbe is only the third member of the Tennessee Tech men's basketball program to win the award since its inception in 1993, joining Larrie Smith (2001) and Brent Jolly (2003).
"It's an honor to win this," Ogbe said. "Just to be recognized like this by the Tech Athletics staff is just so unbelievable. I'm honored to be thought of so highly by the department."
In the 2013-14 season, Ogbe was second on the team in scoring with a 10.6-point average. He was fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference in field goal percentage with a .610 mark. He scored 350 points, pulled down 192 rebounds, dished out 22 assists and stole the ball 21 times for the season.
But his most impressive numbers may have been off the court as he graduated in May with a 3.87 grade point average in electrical engineering.
Ogbe laughed, "That was fun. I had as much fun in electrical engineering as I did in basketball."
Payne said, "What he did academically was more impressive than what he did in basketball and he had a great basketball career. To do the amount of things he did in the time he did and carrying that basketball anchor along with it, it's nothing short of amazing.
"He's one of those guys who when he has a task, he won't rest until it's completed. He's like that in all aspects of his life, especially in the academic side."
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