If we're honest with ourselves, most of us could afford to lose a few pounds. Yours truly is unquestionably a member of that club. But it's one thing to talk about it. It's something else entirely to get it done.

It requires unwavering, resolute determination to go with a set plan and schedule to meet your goals. It's like any major task.

It's a task that Norense Odiase was up for after missing the majority of the 2016-17 season with a foot injury.

Basketball is a sport that wears on your body because of its constant physicality. Multiply that two fold if you're a big man who's putting constant, heavy pressure on your lower body. It takes a toll, one that Odiase is all too familiar with.

So, he decided it was time to try and take some pressure off that big body. He decided it was time to shed some pounds. But dropping a little weight is one thing. Going from 300 pounds to a shredded 235 is something else entirely.

No one - except maybe the Fort Worth native himself - could've foreseen this eye-popping physical transformation.

He looks like a different person, one who accidentally concocted some secret lab formula like a mad scientist or accidental superhero.

But it wasn't an accident. It wasn't a product of happenstance or luck. Odiase found the secret to his success through two simple but hard to execute ideals.

"The number one thing is discipline. The number two is routine. You've got to know a plan for whatever you want to get to. It really helped me discipline-wise."

And after going through a physically morphing experience like that, you'll undoubtedly feel different. For Norense, it's been a major boost in endurance and energy.

"My wind. I can go a lot longer, play a lot harder at longer times, can jump higher. I'm just more active. It's really helped me to get off some dead weight. It's really helped me on the court."

But he didn't do it alone. Odiase had the help of strength and conditioning coach John Reilly and head athletic trainer Chris Williams. Both have certainly earned their stripes for their help in chiseling the power forward, and number 32 is more than willing to heap praise in their direction.

"Man, Coach Reilly really pushed me in the weight room to where I wanted to be. I told him I had a plan for myself, and he was like, 'Okay, this, this, and this is what you're going to have to do.' We set parameters each week, each day on what I needed to do, and I was able to follow it. Him and Chris Williams, our trainer, made a great plan for me to get healthy and stronger than ever. I feel like they helped me fulfill that plan, and they had a big part in it."

Oh, and by the way: Odiase transformed himself while nursing his foot back to health. His injury held him out for the team's entire Big 12 slate, and it was more than apparent that his talents would've come in handy while the Red Raiders were losing close game after close game during conference play.

Odiase knew it, too. He sat on the sidelines many a night last spring, wanting nothing more than to be on the court to boost Tech's chances of winning in those close losses.

"It was definitely a learning experience," he said. "It was tough seeing my team in those battles without me. I wanted to be there with my teammates. It's very tough, but it was very telling. It told me about myself, that I'm a tough minded person. It taught me about the game, able to see things, helped me with my leadership, things like that. It was definitely tough, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I believe in God, that he has a plan for me, and I'm just trusting in him."

If there is a plan in motion for this 2017-18 Texas Tech basketball team, Odiase believes it's one fueled by last year's almosts. The almost baskets, rebounds, and execution against some of the best teams in the country.

He's seen last year's failures fuel the veterans on this basketball team while the collection of newcomers are eager to prove themselves.

"This team, they're all hungry, man. They're energetic. They're full a life. They're guys that want to prove something. Every guy has a chip on his shoulder, and we know the year that we had last year. With these new guys and the guys we have coming back, we're ready to get to the tournament again. We're just hungry as seniors, hungry for these new guys. All the energy around the program really helps."

"We believe with our energy and how hard we work, with the film study and different techniques we've got from our different coaches. It really helps. We've got a group of guys who are energetic and hungry to win. At the end of the day, we'll do whatever it takes."

This team's desperate to finally be back on the court, and like Odiase, they're hoping the offseason work put in will help this team of almosts transform into one of definitive wins.

"The main thing is just finishing. Finishing games. We do a segment in practice every single day that's about finishing, wristbands about finishing. Everything in our program is about finishing. We remember those moments, and if we can take everything we learn each day into finishing, it'll help in those games."