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14 // VARSITY March 13, 2014 Continued from Page 12 BY MIKE LUCAS // UWBADGERS.COM LUCAS AT LARGE (linebacker) for the first time." The Badgers are rebuilding their D-line around returning backups like Warren Herring, Konrad Zagze- bski and Bryce Gilbert, who's from Brookfield Central and prompted Kauha'aha'a to come up with the "Brookfield Posse" moniker when- ever all three are on the practice field at the same time. James and Obasih should not be hard to pick out of a crowd, or a pile. James is wearing jersey No. 6 (same as tailback Corey Clement). He wore No. 7 at East but that be- longs to linebacker Michael Caputo. Obasih is No. 34 (same as fullback Derek Watt), which is the number that he had at Central. "I'd never go to a single-digit number. I don't think it would look good on me," said Obasih, kidding that he doesn't have the body to wear a single-digit like James. "I've gained 20 pounds (since arriving on campus), I'm at 257. They want me at 265 for the season." Even at that weight Obasih would be considered undersized by previ- ous UW standards. But he showed his quickness several times during a pass rushing drill Monday. "I need to build on that," he said. "I didn't start out too hot. The other prac- tices were rough." He didn't have to spell it out. But he did upon request. Chikwe is short for Chikwerendu. "It means, 'God let me live' ― when my mom was pregnant she almost had a mis- carriage," said Obasih, whose older brother, Chindedu, is a UW senior majoring in materials engineering. Because of their conflicting schedules, the brothers haven't seen much of each other on cam- pus. Their sister runs track at Indi- ana State. It's much different with James, of course. "Whenever he has questions, he comes over to me," Obasih said. "And whenever I have questions, I go over to him." Obasih would like someday to go over to Nigeria. Rather, he'd like to go back. He was there when he was 5. "And, to me, it was just like the Lion King," said Obasih, who's extremely proud of his Nigerian ancestry and his father, Kemakolam. "He has been the biggest influence on my life." James can say the same about his dad, Jimmie, who played two years of football at Ellsworth Community College and two more at Minnesota (1981-82). "He helped me out dur- ing the recruiting process," he said, "and so did my mom (Heidi)." James and Obasih were heav- ily recruited. The latter opted to become a part of the Brookfield Central Connection at Wisconsin, which includes assistant coach Ben Strickland and Cleveland Browns All-Pro offensive tackle Joe Thomas. Now James, Obasih and Gilbert have their own Brookfield Posse. "Chikwe picked here first," James said. "Once the other coaches left, I looked around. But, in the end, I made the right choice. Something about it feels right from the fam- ily environment to Coach (Gary) Andersen. He's a good person and more than just a coach. It's the right place and the right fit." Kauha'aha'a can't wait until his young pups come of age. OBASIH