Men's Basketball Adds Power Forward Bambale Osby to 2006 Signing Class
4/26/2006 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 26, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland has added power forward Bambale Osby (pronounced bom-BAH-lay AHZ-bee) to its 2006 recruiting class, head coach Gary Williams announced today. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound sophomore played last season at Paris (Texas) Junior College and will have two seasons of eligibility at Maryland. Osby is a physical inside player who is an excellent rebounder and strong finisher. The Terps inked four players during early signing in November and the signing class was ranked as the 18th best in the country by Rivals.com.
"Bambale has the ability to be an inside scorer," said Williams, who just completed his 17th season at Maryland. "Hopefully, he will help improve our ability to generate offense from the post position."
Osby, who played his freshman season at New Mexico before transferring to Paris JC, averaged 6.0 points and 5.0 rebounds last season for the Dragons, who went 24-7 and finished atop the Region XIV standings with an 18-4 league mark. Paris, which won the 2005 NJCAA National Championship, lost to Tyler Junior College in the Region XIV quarterfinals.
As a freshman, Osby played in 31 of 33 games for New Mexico, which won the Mountain West Conference Tournament and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years. The Lobos went 26-7, the second-best win total in school history and a 12-game improvement from the previous season. Osby averaged 1.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per game off the bench. One of the best games of his freshman season came when he had seven points, a team-high four rebounds (all offensive) and a steal in 15 minutes off the bench at Utah.
Osby played his high school basketball for coach Bruce Croxton at Benedictine Catholic High School in Richmond, Va., where he averaged 16.5 points, 16.8 rebounds and 3.0 blocks as a senior. He helped lead the Cadets to a 25-6 record and their second consecutive Virginia State Catholic League Championship as he was selected to the All-Metro Team by the Richmond Times Dispatch. As a junior, he helped lead Benedictine to a 24-5 mark and its first VISBA Division I Championship in school history.
Following his senior season, Osby traveled with the SCORE International high school team to the Dominican Republic, where he averaged 7.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks as the team went 4-0. He also played his AAU ball for the high-profile Richmond Squires, which were coached by Ken Greenway.
Maryland signed combo guard Greivis Vasquez (Montrose Christian), small forward Landon Milbourne (Oak Hill Academy), point guard Eric Hayes (Potomac (Va.) High School) and power forward Jerome Burney (Westlake High School) during the early signing period in November.
2006 Maryland Basketball Signees Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Hometown (Previous School/High School) Jerome Burney 6-9 220 F Atlanta, Ga. (Westlake HS) Eric Hayes 6-3 175 G Dunfries, Va. (Potomac HS) Landon Milbourne 6-6 210 F Roswell, Ga. (Oak Hill Academy) Bambale Osby 6-8 250 F Richmond, Va. (Paris JC/Benedictine) Greivis Vasquez 6-5 185 G Caracas, Venezuela (Montrose Christian)
