The Road to Stillwater

Chuba Hubbard sat in his 11th grade physics class not knowing what his immediate future held. All he knew was that the big exam was coming up, and he needed to focus.

His concentration was interrupted, however, when he received a Twitter message from Colorado State football coach Mike Bobo asking him to give him a call.

“I went into the cafeteria and called him,” Hubbard recalled. “He offered me a full-ride scholarship to Colorado State. It was everything that I’d ever dreamed of and was really exciting. After that, it was Oklahoma State and a bunch of other schools that came calling.”

When the Cowboys came calling, they were one of many programs putting on the fullcourt press to land the four-star prospect’s signature. It was a wild time for Chuba and family as the phone kept ringing and the offers came pouring in.

“It was overwhelming because it all happened really quickly,” Candace recalled. “We always knew Chuba was amazing so when it happened we stuck together as a family and counted down the ones that he was actually interested in.”

“It definitely took some months to decide where I wanted to go. I had to take an official visit before I knew Stillwater was the right place,” Hubbard said. “Amen was already here, and he told me that it was a good school. He said it would be the right school for me. All of the people in Oklahoma were really nice, and I just prayed over it.”

When Hubbard finally did make his decision, he saved his announcement for a special day.

“It was on Mother’s Day (May 8, 2016) when he surprised me about committing to Oklahoma State,” Candace said. “It was scary for us as parents to have an 18-year-old go down there by himself, but the coaches reassured us that it was like a family and that OSU would take care of him. That was important to us.”

It was a legitimate concern as Stillwater is 1,720 miles away from Calgary.

Amen Ogbongbemiga’s residence in Stillwater at the time was also a key part of the Cowboys landing their second Canadian recruit in as many years as the relationship between the two helped solidify Hubbard’s decision.

“Amen was a big part of it for me because it was program insider I already knew,” Hubbard said. “He told me what OSU was all about and kept it straight with me. I liked what he was saying and knew that it was the school for me. He and I are like brothers now, and I’m glad that I ended up here.”

For Ogbongbemiga, recruiting was a bit different, as he was the first of the current Canadian Cowboys to find his way into the Lower 48.

“I started going to camps after I made my highlight tape and some schools started calling wanting to see me in person,” Ogbongbemiga said. “I got my first offer from Nevada. After that, I came down to Stillwater for a camp, performed well and got the offer from our coaches. Schools still recruited me hard, but I wanted to go to OSU and I made the decision a couple of days after camp.”

The former first-team all-district star at Notre Dame High School knew Stillwater was the right fit for him and his goals in life. Ogbongbemiga embraced the challenge of moving back to the states, but it also provided him a chance to still be within reach of family due to his ties that remained in the city of Houston.

“Moving around showed me to never be afraid of change and coming to Oklahoma State was obviously a big change,” Ogbongbemiga said. “I was ready for it though because I had already done it. It has been beneficial (to be at OSU) because people I know in Houston are able to come to my games when we’re playing in conference or in Texas.”