Danny Ogele Joins Minnesota Gophers 〽️🏀

Danny Ogele joined the Gopher men's basketball team this past July following two-year stays at Navy (2019–21) and Mercyhurst (2019–21). (2018-20). Ogele played in one game during his debut season with Mercyhurst before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He returned in 2020–21 and started all 13 games, averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 10 games with double-digit scoring. Ogele played 10.1 minutes per game on average in 28 games during his last year at the Naval Academy. Ogele is pursuing a degree in cyber security at Minnesota after earning one from Mercyhurst. The Green Bay game software first introduced this function (12.22.21).

Walk us through the process of how you landed in Minnesota? 

I started my college journey at the Naval Academy. I spent two years there and decided to leave there to go play at Mercyhurt. That's where I received my undergrad degree. I then put my name in the transfer portal and talked to a bunch of schools. I kind of waited it out until late July. Coach (Marcus) Jenkins reached out to me and we had a great conversation about playing basketball here. I wanted to come in and help the team. It was an offer I couldn't pass up. 

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Competing at Navy is such a different type of landscape. Talk about your decision to leave there and what led to it? 

Military was an interesting experience. You're put into different situations day in and day out and under pressure with how you have to perform. I carry a lot of life lessons that I learned there to this day. That service commitment wasn't something I wanted to pursue after college. I wanted to potentially play basketball after school and also wanted to study cyber security. Leaving Navy gave me the ability to do that. 

Did you and Coach Jenkins have that personal connection as both of you had military background and basketball? 

We actually talked a lot about that in our initial conversation. He went to Air Force and was a graduate there and obviously I went to the Naval Academy. We talked about the leadership qualities they look for in players and what it takes to compete there. 

You have been a part of the Gopher program since this summer. What have you learned from this coaching staff so far?

We are huge on being a family. We're very family oriented. It's cool to see (how) a bunch of guys who don't know each other can come together and gel really quick. It's actually amazing. The coaching staff is very down to earth and they care about you. They want to see you get better and they have your best interest at heart. They are very family oriented. 

You talk about that togetherness. How were you able to integrate yourself with the team?

Just be myself. A lot of the guys are just being themselves. We spend a lot of time hanging out on the weekends, getting up shots together, playing video games. Everyone is doing a great job of welcoming each other and being a family. 

What are your personal goals this year and team goals this year? 

Personal goals, I just want to continue to get better every day. That's what coach Johnson and staff preach every day. Just get better each day and develop. Whether that's in the classroom or on the court, be better than the day before. As a team, we'd love to make it to the NCAA tournament. That's our main goal. 

How did you get into cyber security and how did you know that was your processional path?

Through my mother. She's been doing cyber security for about 15 years now. She pushed me into that field and is very big into that. She works for a company called Boos Allen Hamilton and is based in Virginia. I see what she's doing and love it. She keeps telling me it's the future and the direction everything is going right now so I dove into it. 

What's your master's degree in and what you'd like to do after you're done with basketball? 

Definitely cyber security is my long-term plan, whether that's network, administration or business analyst. Right now I'm studying security technology. It's kind of like the business, critical infrastructure of cyber security. I'll be done with my program in December of 2022. 

You've had some injuries you've battled earlier in your career. How were you able to overcome that?

When I transferred to Mercyhurst, I had our first game of the year and had a good game. However, that following week in practice, I dislocated my kneecap. That caused me to sit out the rest of the year. It was definitely hard. However, what I went through in the Naval Academy helped me get through that time. Just going through and overcoming turmoil. Just focus on getting better and looking ahead and seeing how I can make myself to get better. I also wanted to encourage my teammates. We went on a big run that year and came back that following year and was third in the country. It was a great year for us. 

What do you like to do outside of basketball and academics? 

Definitely video games. We have 2K in the locker room FIFA, Madden, we're into all of those. I mostly play against Laye. We play all the time.