Oto Out: Gophers' Osenieks College Playing Career Over

According to a report from SI.com, Gophers' power forward Oto Osenieks has decided to hang up his sneakers and quit playing college basketball for good. The 6'8" Latvian native has averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and started 23 times for the University of Minnesota during this, his junior, season. A knee injury forced Osenieks to miss the last two games and now, apparently, it will cause him to forgo the remainder of his college basketball career.

“Unfortunately, this injury will limit his ability to continue playing beyond this season,” head coach Richard Pitino said in a Star Tribune blog post.

Joey King will likely replace Osenieks as the Gophers' starting power forward. Charles Buggs — who provided a (much needed) offensive spark in the Gopher's (much needed) recent 95-89 win over Iowa — is also expected to see more time on the floor as a result of the injury.