Agbonkonkon is UT Austin's track star and author

AUSTIN, Texas — Osawese Agbonkonkon has always had a good balance between sports and school in his life.

“Childhood was sports and reading really,” says Agbonkonkon. “Everything from t-ball, swimming, soccer, basketball then to track and field. Of course, education was paramount in my family.”

Agbonkonkon tried plenty of different sports, but it was while he was playing basketball that he actually found what he was best at. A coach at his high school saw him dunking in warmups one game and asked if he wanted to come try out for track. Initially, he said no, but eventually, he gave it a try.

“Came out for one practice and so far it’s taken me here,” says Agbonkonkon.

He was already in his junior year at Frisco Wakeland High School, when Agbonkonkon began learning how to high jump. It didn’t take long to get pretty good. In 2023, Agbonkonkon finished fourth in the high jump at the Class 5A state meet. His success on the track led him to Oregon for his freshman year of college. After competing one season for the Ducks, Agbonkonkon decided to come back closer to home, and he transferred to Texas.

“It’s amazing to compete for UT. I love the history, I love the tradition,” says Agbonkonkon. “I’m a Texas kid, so to be competing for my home state’s flagship school it’s a great honor for me.”

Not only is he competing, but he’s excelling. Agbonkonkon jumped a personal best (7-1.50) at the NCAA West Regional and qualified for the NCAA Championship starting June 11. He’s developed a specific approach over the years when it comes to jumping.

“Before the jump there is a lot of thinking but once I get onto the line, I try to clear my mind,” says Agbonkonkon. “It’s such a technical event, the slightest thing going wrong can knock off the bar.”

While Agbonkonkon spends a lot of his time training and competing in track, he has another passion. Ever since he was a little kid, he’s loved to write, and that led to a big project a few years back.

“This is a project I’ve been working on for about six years,” says Agbonkon. “Started in about 2018 and something I’m passionate about.”

That project is a book that Agbonkonkon wrote, called Psychic Suit.

“When I first came up with the idea for this I was taking notes on paper for it, just little different ideas,” says Agbonkonkon. “Once I actually started writing it I think the first draft was about 40,000 words, this final draft is about 90,000 or so.”

The book is a science fiction novel is which he created an entire world and new characters but also used elements of his life to put into those characters.

“One of the biggest themes for me was talking about mental health,” says Agbonkonkon. “How does the world look at people who have mental health challenges and it’s OK to have those challenges.”

Agbonkonkon is looking into options of turning his book into a movie. He also says he’s about halfway done writing the sequel.