Oto Osenieks had a senior moment.
This senior moment was not about forgetting, but about remembering something for the rest of his life.
"Nobody can ever take this away from me," he said.
Sunday, the Gophers beat Penn State 81-63 to keep them in contention for an NCAA tournament bid. It was Senior Day, meaning coach Richard Pitino honored senior players and their families before the game, and asked them to speak to the crowd after.
Three of the players honored — Austin Hollins, Maverick Ahanmisi and Malik Smith — were playing in their last scheduled game at Williams Arena. The fourth — Osenieks — is a senior in terms of classwork but a junior in terms of athletic eligibility.
Osenieks began the season as a starting forward looking forward to two seasons under Pitino. Then his left knee, twice repaired when he was a youngster, started bothering him. He discovered that his knee joint had become little more than bones rubbing together.
Six weeks ago he realized he could no longer compete. "I couldn't jump off of that knee, couldn't play defense, couldn't play this game at a high level," he said. "I've been trying to play through it. Then we did an MRI and they said there was a cartilage breakdown and all kinds of other stuff in there. The doctors said they can't really fix it.
"There's no surgery for it. I talked to people who said, 'Well, if you want to walk when you're older you probably shouldn't play basketball at a high level.' "