South West Illinois News

There is not a lot of strategy behind Sean O'Brien's rebounding prowess: for him, much of it comes down to pure effort.

“Rebounding is all about having little bit of a nose for the ball, but really it's about just outworking the other player and knowing every time that you're going to get some lucky bounces if you just keep going,” the Southern Illinois senior forward said recently.

Sean O'Brien | SIU

O'Brien, a Mundelein High School graduate, has been a terror on the boards this season for the Salukis. As of Feb. 2, O'Brien was second in the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding average at eight a game and total rebounds with 191, according to the league's website.

His rebounding average this season represents a jump of about two per game, per his statistics page on SIU's website. When O'Brien finishes his SIU hoops career sometime this spring, he will leave as one of the program's best all-time rebounders.

O'Brien had 709 career rebounds through Feb. 2, according to siusalukis.com, which would put him on the short list of players in school history with at least 700 rebounds while wearing a Saluki uniform. The program's online media guide shows that the top-10 career rebounders at the school had at least 735 rebounds.

O'Brien also averaged 11.9 points per game on 50.2 percent field-goal shooting through the Salukis' first 24 games this season, according to the team's website. Offense is an area O'Brien said he's improved in during his time SIU.

“I struggled a lot as a freshman and sophomore,” he said. “Teams would kind of sag off me because I wasn't the greatest shooter and I almost didn't know what to do about it so I'd just get passive. So I just kind of took it upon myself the last few years to work on my game in the mid-post area and on the blocks.”

O'Brien said he still works on his shooting every day, especially with graduate assistant John Clancy. O'Brien added that he has become a smarter player defensively as well.

“The game just really slowed down for me these last couple of years,” he said.

The Salukis were right around .500 for most of the first 24 games of the season, a result that had the team disappointed, O'Brien said. Still, he said he liked the team's recent energy and focus, and that the team's confidence is good. That is something he is hoping carries into the MVC Tournament — which is set for March 2-5 in St. Louis, according to the league's website — where a good run can launch the team into the NCAA Tournament.

“We obviously know we're not just going to get some automatic bid, so at that point, for us, it's all about keep improving and keep getting better,” he said.

As for his long-term future, O'Brien, who is a sports administration major, said he would like to get into coaching. However, after the season is over, he said he wants to keep working out and get in touch with agents about continuing his playing days.

“I'd like to play for as long as my body lets me,” he said.