It’s been a bizarre season like none other, but Youngstown State’s Nneka Obiazor has made a massive impact in a short amount of time.

The Penguins missed the first one-third of their season due to a pair of COVID-19 related shutdowns.

So YSU was thrown into the fire in its season on New Year’s Day against Wright State. In that opener, the Penguins started a pair of freshmen in Obiazor and Malia Magestro.

Nearly two months later, Youngstown State (10-7, 9-7) is headed to the quarterfinals in the Horizon League tournament, and Obiazor has established herself was one of the more skilled players on the court. She was named Freshman of the Week four times by the Horizon League, was a third-team all-league selection and was named the league’s Freshman of the Year to boot.

“A big thing is that she was very talented and played at a high level in high school, in the biggest class in Minnesota,” coach John Barnes said. “So her competition night-in and night-out was really good to start with, but I think she made the adjustment to the college game very quickly.

“She’s a very strong, athletic and quick, explosive player. She kind of translated that into her college game right away. Also, I think the rest of the team did a great job of helping her along and getting her the ball in good positions to score, so it’s definitely a full team effort when any player gets any of those types of awards.”

Averaging 15.5 points a contest, along with 8.1 rebounds, Obiazor has already recorded a trio of double-doubles, along with four 20-plus point games, including a 29-point performance against Cleveland State on February 19. That was the most by a YSU freshman since Kristi Echelberry scored 30 against Lock Haven in 1992.

Obiazor often finds herself in the post with redshirt-senior Mary Dunn, who was the first player in program history to receive Freshman of the Year honors in 2016-2017.

Dunn is averaging 16.2 points per contest and has become someone that Obiazor looked up to this season.

“Just coming in and having the confidence of Coach Barnes and Mary Dunn was one of the biggest and most helpful things so far this season,” Obiazor said. “Just working for her, having her show me the ropes in the post, and giving me confidence was great. Having her as my role model is really helpful.

“I feel like it’s just so cool how we both got that title (Freshman of the Year) and it just proves a lot how we work so well together, and how our game is similar. It’s awesome.”

Obiazor, a graduate of Eden Prairie High School, is the program’s first recruit to hail from Minnesota, although in this era of AAU Basketball, players like Obiazor have more exposure than ever.

“We’ll go to a tournament in Nashville, or Atlanta and there’s 400 teams from all over the country, so you’re watching teams from all over the country,” Barnes said. “So if you see a player you like, you start recruiting them and see where it takes you. Coach (Andy) Crane has a lot of connections in Wisconsin and Minnesota, the Twin Cities area, so we were able to kind of find her and recruit her.

“She came to our elite camp, which was a huge deal. She had a great camp here and we weren’t really sure how good she was until she came to our elite camp, and then it was pretty obvious how good she was. So we just went full speed on her and were fortunate enough to ger her.”

As proflic of a scorer as Obiazor is, her work on the defensive end has helped guide YSU to the Horizon League quarterfinals, with a team average of 24.9 rebounds a contest.

“I think being aggressive and knowing that I’m big and just putting all my heart onto defense and boxing out is key,” she said. “I know that I’m capable of getting the rebound every single possession if I want to go and get it.”

Dunn was named second-team all-league and senior Chelsea Olson was on the third team with Obiazor.

The Penguins have a tall task ahead of them Tuesday night at Milwaukee (18-6, 15-5). The Panthers average 64.3 points a game and 39 rebounds. The winner will advance to the Horizon League semifinals in Indianapolis.

Obiazor has enjoyed this strange season and is proud to play for the Penguins.

“It’s just community, just being together,” she said about the team’s cohesiveness. “We’re always being confident with one another. Knowing that I have a group of people that I can talk to and play basketball with and have fun together is what makes this feel special.”