CHARLESTON – Men's Basketball announced the addition of another transfer signee with graduate student Lamar Oden Jr from Drexel University on Monday afternoon. Oden joins the Buccaneers as the team's third transfer signee of the window.
 
"We are very excited to add Lamar to our basketball family," said Head Coach Saah Nimley. Lamar just fits what we are trying to do both offensively and defensively moving forward. His combination of experience, skills and physical tools are a formula for instant impact. His best attribute may be who he is as a person and we are very excited to add someone of his character and talent to our program and university."
 
Oden completed his four-year career with the Dragons this past March after appearing in 100 total games which includes 46 starts and over 2000 minutes played. He has spent most of his career as a guard/forward combo with his ability to play inside out and versatility as a high IQ basketball player. In total, he has collected over 500 points and 300 rebounds with nearly 100 career makes from behind the arc.
 
His best season at Drexel came during his junior season as he played and started in each of the Dragons' 32 games. He tallied 8.7 points a game and 5.4 rebounds a game which ranked 4^th and 2^nd on the team. He finished that season with three double-doubles with one of them including his career high in scoring of 21 at Hampton (2/16) as he also pulled down 10 rebounds to go with it. Also had double-doubles against Arcadia (11/18) at 13-10 and against Towson (2/11) in OT at 19-12.
 
In his sophomore campaign, he led the team in three-point shooting with a clip of .435 (27-62). During Oden's freshman season, the team won the CAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, providing him experience in college's basketball marquee event. During that season, he played in all but one game during his freshman season, averaging 14 minutes per game as a key contributor for the team off the bench.
 
At the end of each of the past two academic years, he has been named to the CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll.
 
At Greenforest-McCalep Christian Academy, he capped off his career as a senior with 18.5 points and 8.2 rebounds. He led his squad to a pair of State finals appearances to go along with an All-State selection, three-time First-Team All-Region pick, Region Player of the Year and Region Freshman of the Year. Additionally, he was the valedictorian for his high school's 2020 graduating class.
 
Oden is the son of Lamar Oden Sr. and Anither Oden. His father played basketball professionally in Germany and played in college at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga while his mother ran track at Alabama State University. His second cousin, Greg Oden, is a former NBA first-overall pick.
 
He is expected to be another big contributing piece for the Buccaneers heading into next season with his experience, play style and high basketball IQ.