Oby Anadi, a senior middle blocker on South Carolina's volleyball team, is heading into her senior year after an eventful year of volunteering for both SEC's basketball tournaments, using her voice in a commercial and a record setting defensive season.
Last year, Anadi scored more kills (149) than her past two seasons combined (119). She also registered 129 blocks, the fourth-most blocks a Gamecock player has recorded in a single season during volleyball's modern scoring era.
But as she enters her final year of college, she said she is already looking ahead to life after volleyball. Anadi has taken advantage of multiple opportunities that have helped her expand her horizons and discover a new post-graduate career pathway.
Anadi, who is currently a public relations student with a minor in women and gender studies, originally came to South Carolina hoping to become a lawyer before eventually combining law with her passion for broadcasting. While exploring her options at South Carolina, she said, she decided to change directions.
“Growing up, it was, 'Okay, I'll be a lawyer, and then I'll do more TV reporting and be able to give political insight,'” Anadi said. “All of the opportunities I’ve been given, and the different avenues I’ve been open to and opportunities I’ve seen being a lawyer, is not necessarily my number one goal anymore.”
Anadi said she hoped to work in television growing up but was unsure how to break into the industry when she entered college.
"I didn't really know coming into college the opportunities that you could have and even that you could do. I've always wanted to do commercials and use my voice to do fun stuff like that," she said. "But when you're watching it on TV, when you're seeing other people, you're like, 'Oh, I want to do that,' but you don't get to know the way you were meant to do it."
She eventually found her breakthrough during her junior year, when she had the opportunity to record a voice-over for a television commercial for the Southeastern Conference.
"I got the voiceover SEC commercial, which is sports, but what I wasn't, what I was really doing wasn't sports oriented," Anadi said. "I was just kind of reading the script, using my voice different ways. I'm trying new things."
Anadi has remained a strong student while exploring her opportunities, having made the SEC's Academic Honor Roll each year of her college career. She was also named to the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Time management and organization are key to balancing athletics, academics and outside work opportunities, she said.
"I use Google Calendar. I use my Teamworks that we have our team stuff on, so you just try to find ways to be organized," Anadi said. "But it's definitely something that I just take day by day. My schedule is not the same every day."
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tireh Smith said that she is impressed with how Anadi has found opportunities to be involved in SEC athletics off the court in different sports like basketball.
"It's really cool how she gets to go to women's basketball things because we're friends with them," Smith said. "Seeing how she's growing not only like as an athlete, but outside of athletics, through athletics, is really cool."
Anadi said she is looking for more opportunities as she continues experimenting within the broadcasting field to find what she likes the most.
"I'm just trying all my avenues right now," Anadi said. "I don't have a definite and I don't think I should have a definite just yet because I'm open to anything."
Anadi's passion for television is not the only thing that drives her. She said she is also driven by her pride in her identity as a Nigerian American.
Anadi is originally from Sidell, Louisiana, where she lives with her brother, two sisters and her two parents. However, her parents are both originally from Nigeria.
Being raised in Nigerian culture at home is something Anadi said “shaped her a lot.” But she also said Nigerian culture can make life as a student and Division I women's volleyball player challenging.
"My culture inside my house is not the culture at school, so it can be really hard for me sometimes," Anadi said. "And I even have a struggle sometimes being here, the way I say things or do things is how my culture would do it."
Anadi said these struggles are even more apparent from an academic perspective, especially since expectations of her future career path were shaped by what is normal within her culture and her parents' perceptions of being a student-athlete.
"It's been a hard journey for me because sports is not normal," Anadi said. "Females in sports is not normal one, and as my parents are immigrants that are coming here, you have the same mindset of, 'doctor, lawyer, engineer.' (My) sisters are doctors, my brother's an engineer and I was going to be the lawyer."
Despite these challenges, Anadi embraces her culture and uses it to connect with those who share it with her.
"I love my family. I love my culture," Anadi said. "Anytime I can find another Nigerian on another team or another Nigerian at school, I'm so happy that I feel like I can share my culture and like talk about a part of me that I don't really get to dip into while I'm here."
Anadi extends the kindness that she shows to people to share her culture to her teammates. Her outgoing nature and leadership skills have also carried over to the court, said freshman libero Victoria Harris.
"I feel like something that people should know about Oby is that she's very detail-oriented, but she's such a great people person." said Harris. "She's like my sister to where she's always been there for me."
Anadi said she is still open to one day going to law school after taking advantage of the opportunities available to her as an SEC athlete. But she is focused on playing volleyball, helping South Carolina return to the NCAA Tournament and making the most of her final year of college for the time being.
"Although my time is shortened compared to Victoria – she has three more years after this – (I'm) still taking it day by day and enjoying it because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Anadi said.