(Mound City) -- Mound City’s Tony Osburn will play Division I basketball with the Omaha Mavericks.
The two-time KMAland Missouri Boys Basketball Player of the Year announced his commitment on social media Wednesday.
“It’s definitely been a long and stressful process,” Osburn said. “I think it came down to wanting to be close to home but finding the best fit for me. North Dakota State and Omaha were both great offers, and it would have been hard to go wrong with either. Omaha was a little closer to home, and I think I can make a bigger impact there.”
Osburn says plenty stood out about Omaha as a school and as a basketball program.
“Their non-conference schedule is really great,” he said. “You’re going to be on a big stage, which is really fun coming from a really small town. Their player development stuff I watched them do is really impressive, and that’s really what I enjoy doing.”
Osburn averaged 25 points per game and four rebounds in 28 contests for Mound City during his junior season, earning the second of two KMAland Missouri Boys Basketball Player of the Year awards.
“They would call me about four times a week,” Osburn said, “but they also called my mom and dad and built that relationship. Just the overall vibe that they’ve been there for a really long time was really important to me.”
The Division I basketball commitment is rare for a small Northwest Missouri school athlete, and Osburn is not lost on that fact.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” he said. “A lot of people look down on Class 1 basketball because it’s way smaller. The big thing is taking advantage of every opportunity you’re given. In AAU games, when we would play four and five star guys, that’s when you really have to show out. The biggest thing is just really taking advantage of every opportunity you’re given and not taking any days off when you get those.”
Listen to much more with Osburn from Thursday’s UFR below.
