There was a moment during a Marquette men's basketball practice in the summer that could be interesting to look back at in a few years.
It was caught on camera, and freshman Al Amadou still laughs when he thinks about re-watching one of the first times he really tried to go after senior Oso Ighodaro .
"I think I got Oso mad," Amadou said. "There was a video of him, he wouldn't let go of my jersey. And I'm trying my hardest to get him off me, but I can't get him off.
"It was probably funny to other people, but me and him we were just going at it. I definitely look at him like a big brother."
There's often a circle of life for big men in college basketball. They arrive on campuses as talented-but-skinny teenagers and take some hard knocks from older teammates. With a couple years in the weight room and steady work on the court, they then become the ones who are pushing newcomers in practices.
Ighodaro has lived out that evolution . He went from barely playing as a freshman to being one of the best big men in the country, and he'll be in the middle of the action as the No. 4 Golden Eagles (2-0) take on 23rd-ranked Illinois (2-0) on Tuesday night in Champaign, Illinois.
Amadou hasn't cracked the rotation yet. But he's trying to follow the path set by Ighodaro.
"Al's going to be a great player," Ighodaro said. "He has a competitive edge to him, and we go at each other in practice and we push each other.
"I'm stronger than him now, but he's going to get there soon. Hopefully this season he can keep getting stronger and growing with his game."
Ighodaro was listed as 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds as a freshman.
He was part of a talented recruiting class for former MU coach Steve Wojciechowski along with the much more heralded Dawson Garcia (now at Minnesota) and Justin Lewis ( now on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls ).
There wasn't much playing time – Ighodaro would only see the court for 38 minutes that season – so practices were his competition until a late-season injury. Ighodaro took his lumps from well-chiseled, 245-pound teammate Theo John .
"I always competed as a freshman," Ighodaro said. "Even though I was light, I still competed. It's a lot different now, for sure."
Ighodaro decided to stick around to play for new coach Shaka Smart, and showed drastic improvements as a backup center to Kur Kuath in the 2021-22 season . Ighodaro continued to skyrocket last season as Smart used the big man as a ball-handler and playmaker.
Ighodaro was named to the preseason all-Big East second team , and he has started strong by averaging 13 points and nine rebounds in MU's first two games.
And now that he is 6-11 and 235 pounds, he's teaching a few things to the 6-9, 210-pound Amadou.
"I've been especially impressed with Al's willingness to keep coming back," Smart said. "It is hard to play against Oso.
"Oso's got a lot of tricks. He's hard to deal with because he can do things away from the basket. He can do things around the basket. Particularly when he's got you outweighed by 35 pounds. But Al keeps coming back every day."
Amadou knows that, like Ighodaro a few years ago, there might not be a lot of minutes for him as a freshman.
"Just controlling the controllables and being the best version of myself," Amadou said. "I'm not thinking about stats. I just want to help my team any way I can and get better and also help the team get better every day."
There already have been the flashes of talent.
Amadou made his MU debut in the opener against Northern Illinois , checking in with 1 minute 56 seconds remaining. Then just 24 seconds later, he threw down a monster dunk off an offensive rebound.
"That was actually pretty cool," Amadou said. "It's crazy to think about. I just go and play my game and crash the glass.
"I got lucky. I'm always going to have that mentality. But it felt great, for sure. It was really cool. I was really excited. My mom was really happy. My mom got to see that."
Ighodaro has counseled Amadou about not getting discouraged when he's not playing as much as he wants.
"When I first got here, the first couple practices, I guess you could say I felt out of place," Amadou said. "I wouldn't have a good practice and I just got in my head a lot.
"But he told me 'I was in the same position as you.' And he talked about that it was hard for him. But he got past hard. He was a consistent, every day guy. So he told me to keep doing that and just keep bringing my energy and keep a smile on my face. That's been helping me every day since. I always listen to anything he tells me because all his advice is good. He's what I'm trying to be, but obviously I want to raise the bar."
Ighodaro has an extra season of NCAA eligibility. But after graduating with a finance degree in three years and now enrolled in a one-year MBA program while also intriguing NBA scouts, Ighodaro has said he is unlikely to be back next season.
There could be an opportunity for Amadou as well as fellow freshman big man Caedin Hamilton, who is redshirting this season .
"The future is bright for us up front with those guys if we can continue to develop them and help them grow and improve," Smart said. "And the biggest thing, as we always talk about, I know this sounds repetitive, is growing them as people.
"Because as they gain sturdiness and toughness and resiliency and confidence and communication skills, the basketball part is just going to go through the roof because they are both really, really talented guys."
And, if things go according to plan, they could be the ones overwhelming the next group of young big men.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's Oso Ighodaro teaching freshman Al Amadou
