The Moby Arena crowd gave starting forward Emmanuel Omogbo a standing ovation upon his return to the court on Wednesday night.
Omogbo had returned from Maryland on Tuesday, where he spent the weekend grieving with friends and family following the tragic death of his parents and two-year old twin niece and nephew in a house fire.
Great game with big shots from both teams.. But this was the biggest moment of the game @MW_MHoops #sjsu #mwbb https://t.co/XyBBJdt6l4
— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) January 28, 2016
CSU fans give Emmanuel Omogbo a standing ovation after he checks into the game pic.twitter.com/9gDXav7pxL
— Sean Star (@seanvstar) January 28, 2016
Emmanuel Omogbo comes in and Moby holds a standing ovation. #classy #CSURams @csumensbball pic.twitter.com/XodCUh7GNT
— Rich (midnight blue 🌠and sunshine yellow ☀️) (@RichKurtzman) January 28, 2016
“I teared up,” assistant coach Ross Hodge said. Hodge traveled with Omogbo back to him Chillum, Maryland, home over the weekend.
Omogbo ended up being the difference-maker for the Rams as well, scoring all 11 of his points in the final 12 minutes of a 74-66 win.
The team, and the coaching staff, was glad to have him back, and while it is going to take a while to get past what happened to him and his family, the important thing for Omogbo is that he have the support in Fort Collins to do it.
“I had four sons, now I have five. He’s my fifth son, he really is,” Eustachy said after the game. “He’s always been a little special My wife claims that she signed him on the visit, and Emmanuel backs it up. My wife adores him and vice-versa, so he’s family.”