By Sheridan Powell - Drake Athletic Communications Student Assistant
This story originally appeared in the Jan. 17-30 edition of the Drake Men's Basketball Gameday Program.

Drake sophomore Ore Arogundade has been no stranger to obstacles in his life. His family moved to the United States when he was very young, leaving their home country of Nigeria. He grew up in a house full of brothers, competing and pushing each other constantly. His brothers, two older and one younger, grew up playing basketball and the four pushed each other to continually get better.

"It's that whole family dynamic - them playing sports and my mom being an athlete," Arogundade said. "There's just a competitive edge they have, and they share it with me and I think that's really good."

Despite various challenges, Arogundade became accustomed to success in high school. His senior year, he led St. Viator High School to a state tournament appearance and became the program's all-time leading scorer with more than 1,600 career points. He also played for the Illinois Wolves, an AAU team with tremendous success.

An Illinois Mr. Basketball finalist, Arogundade was receiving attention from colleges across the nation. He received offers from multiple schools, including Saint Louis University, San Francisco and Utah State before ultimately choosing Drake.

His freshman year with the Bulldogs, Arogundade earned a starting spot in his first two collegiate games. However, those two were the only two games he started all season.

He went on to lead the team in three-point accuracy and saw consistent minutes the remainder of the season to average 3.7 points per game.

But that wasn't enough for him.

"From high school, I thought I was ready [to play college basketball]," Arogundade said. "But I really wasn't."

Over the course of the offseason, Arogundade put in tremendous work at the gym each day. But it wasn't just his physical skills he was perfecting, it was his mental.

"I used to get down on stuff in the past, last year," Arogundade said. "This year, when something goes bad or goes wrong, I just let it out and just focus on the day-by-day. I think that was the biggest change for me in the last year."

Recently, Arogundade began watching tape of himself from high school to rebuilt confidence that may have been shaken by the rigors of Division I college basketball.

"It's good to just remember how good you can be," Arogundade said. "To see where you came from, your past success and what you're capable of."

While cultivating that strong mentality heading into the season, he focused on perfecting the rest of his game.

'Day-by-day' is his mantra, repeated as steps were taken towards progress and improvement.

"I was in the gym everyday," Arogundade said. "Working on my three-point shot, working on my ball-handling, just working on every aspect of my game."

The countless hours of time in the Shivers Basketball Practice Facility have been evident this season as he as he earned a spot in the starting lineup against Iowa where he held the Hawkeyes' leading scorer to nearly half his season average.

With the injury to C.J. Rivers on Jan. 9, Arogunade immediately saw his role increase even more. The coaching staff's faith in him has been rewarded as Arogundade has hit his stride recently by averaging 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in the last five games.

In the loss at Indiana State, he poured in a career-high 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the three-point arc with eight rebounds. That performance came on the heels of a career-high nine boards against Bradley and backt-to-back 12-point outings against Loyola and Illinois State.

His increased role and the team's dependence on his contributions remains his motivation for both mental and physical improvement.

The Bulldogs' season to date has left Arogundade and his teammates anything but satisfied. But Arogundade and the rest of the Bulldogs continue to strive for improvement.

"I'm never satisfied. I don't think anyone should be satisfied with where they are," Arogundade said. "I'm very hard on myself and I'm always looking for ways to get better. Whether that be on the basketball court or off, I try to be a better person all around."

Arogundade and the Bulldog faithful hope that drive and commitment to continual improvement produce a turnaround for the Bulldogs and results on and off the court for years to come.