Texas Tech Basketball: 3 impact takeaways from Fardaws Aimaq injury

2. Kevin Obanor is capable of being the focal point of the offense

The weakness of Batcho is that he’s not a great scorer, which means that if the frontcourt is going to produce offensively while Aimaq is out, it’ll have to come from Obanor. In his first season at Texas Tech, the 6’8 forward averaged 10.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg on 47% shooting from the field and 34% from three-point range in 26 mpg and starting all 37 games.

Of course, Obanor’s numbers weren’t close to the near 20 ppg and 10 rpg numbers that he was putting up at the offensively-friendly system at Oral Roberts. However, the forward proved that he could be a solid-enough defender to play at Texas Tech and in the Big 12 overall, which was a huge question a year ago.

There were signs towards the end of last season that Obanor could be a leading offensive player. He finished the 2021-22 campaign with seven straight double-digit scoring outputs, including 15 points and 15 rebounds in the Round of 32 win over Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.

He played second-fiddle to Bryson Williams in the frontcourt last season, which affected his own production. With Aimaq out of the picture, that won’t be an issue. And Obanor can also play some small-ball center whenever Batcho isn’t on the court and his spacing ability can help boost the overall offense for the Red Raiders. There aren’t any “winners” when someone gets hurt but look for the numbers for Obanor to take a leap now this season.