Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of five on the most underrated Arizona Wildcats athletes.
The first time Israel Oloyede picked up a hammer and a weight, he was just “messing” around in high school while watching his friend compete at a meet.
Fast forward a few years later when his football career ended, and Oloyede was looking for a new sport to pour his energy into. He thought he’d give throwing a shot.
The weight throw is a sport that is all about feeling and movement. Oloyede was a natural and was good right away — so good that he became an NJCAA first team All-American and a year later set a national record (20.89 meters) and won the title in the weight throw at Paradise Valley Community College.
“I remember I just went in there and I was just like, ‘I just have to throw it as hard as I possibly can — without the technique, with technique doesn’t matter. And when I let it go, and it landed I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s it. I did it,’ ” Oloyede said.
Last fall he transferred to the University of Arizona after coach Fred Harvey offered him a spot on the team. He just keeps moving in the right direction. He said he feels the energy on the track and loves the “family vibe I get from my throwing crew.”
During the indoor season he was No. 6 in the country in weight throwing and was at the National Championships when the season was stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Not bad for someone who just literally picked up the sport in January 2018.
Why he’s so good
The All-American has a strong work ethic. The day after he set a national record and won the NJCAA title, he went right back to work. He worked every day over the summer — even after getting his UA offer. He knows what it takes to succeed — hard work and dedication — and knows he still has a lot to prove.
This season he came in second at the MPSF Championships and earned a spot in the Indoor National Championship as one of only 16 athletes to compete. Harvey said it’s the hardest national championship to qualify for that “It’s not even debatable.”
Oloyede has everything that is needed to make a good throw — athleticism, strength, size, height, balance and coordination — as well as the intangibles.
Israel Oloyede
“That whole kinesthetic awareness thing. There are a lot of people who don’t understand where their body is at in time,” Harvey said. “If you can’t figure that out, you’re going to have a very difficult time with that event because it just moves so rapidly.
“His athleticism is really the key. I mean his balance, his coordination, his size are obviously key factors, but his ability to be able to transfer these forces at that level — that’s what really takes him to that level.
Why he’s underrated
Oloyede has only been throwing for a few short years. The best of the best, whether they are from Russia, the Scandinavian countries or the United States — start when they were much younger, usually from 8 to 11 years old. It’s all they know. For someone to come along so much later in his life and dominate like Oloyede has is very rare. It’s like he came out of nowhere.
“As good as he was this year, he’s far from technically where he needs to be,” Harvey said. “To be at that level in three years. Can you imagine this?
“You have a person who never played quarterback in high school at all, didn’t play it in middle school, wasn’t like the Tom Bradys of the world. All of the sudden this guy gets to a junior college and they start playing him a little bit at quarterback.
“The next year he’s playing quarterback and he’s one of the tops in the country. Then he comes to UA or whatever school and this is year three of playing quarterback, and he’s one of the top 16 or top 10 quarterbacks in the country. That not a far reach of what you have to feel. Throwing the hammer is really more about feel and balance and those things.”
Coachspeak
“He’s really an outdoor hammer thrower. To have that type of improvement in the weight, just made us extremely excited about what he’s going to be able to do with the hammer outside.
“Now, is he an Olympian? I never make those types of predictions. The type of prediction that I will make is does he have an Olympic-level-type skills and talents? Absolutely. Absolutely.” — Harvey
He said it
“We’re at Texas Tech, it was the third meet and I was ready to throw big. And you can tell I was kind of just holding myself back a little bit. But he (Coach Harvey) just comes up to me and he looks at me and he’s like, ‘Hey, look, you gotta release all that — you have to let go. Whatever you think about you, you can do this. You’re great. You can be great. You have the ability to out-throw all these guys — don’t doubt yourself.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.’ I go back to throw, throw a PR.
“Coach Harvey has always been on my side. He always motivates me — he always, always lifts me up.” — Oloyede
