Here's how Marquette’s Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro are preparing for NBA draft combine

About two weeks ago, Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro packed up all their stuff and left Marquette's campus to take the initial steps toward their dreams of reaching the NBA.

Like a lot of young professionals, they both moved to big cities to enhance their opportunities. Ighodaro headed to Los Angeles and Kolek went to Chicago ahead of the NBA draft combine, which starts May 12 . Both players decided not to come back for another season in college, thus ending a successful three-season run together with the Golden Eagles.

"It was definitely a tough decision because it wasn’t so cut and dried where it was like you had no eligibility left," Kolek said. "I had that extra year. It wasn’t a hard decision, but it was hard to come to grips with that I’m doing.

"So leaving campus, actually, I was a little emotional. I left on that Sunday. I cleared out my room, I gave one of the managers my moped. I got a little sentimental. Because I gave so much and Milwaukee has given so much to me.

"It’s really been nothing that I could have dreamed of. I would have stayed there the rest of my life if I could and played college basketball, but that’s just not how life works. But it was definitely a tough thing leaving there."

Oso Ighodaro signed with Klutch Sports Group and Tyler Kolek is with Priority Sports

The first order of business for Kolek and Ighodaro was to sign with an agency to help guide them through the process of becoming professional basketball players.

Ighodaro landed with Klutch Sports Group, which boasts a strong roster of NBA players, including LeBron James.

"I just Zoomed with agents and met with them in person," Ighodaro said. "And then I felt like my agent (Klutch's Erika Ruiz) was the best option for me."

Kolek also did his due diligence in meeting with agencies, but he stuck with Priority Sports and Entertainment, the same group who helped Kolek manage his name, image and likeness deals while at MU.

“I had a couple other options, but ultimately at the end of the day you got to go with what’s best for yourself and your business," Kolek said. "Because that’s what the NBA is now, it’s my life and it’s my job.”

Training with other NBA draft hopefuls like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Zach Edey

Ighodaro hasn't gotten out much in L.A., outside of attending a playoff game between the Lakers and Denver Nuggets at Staples Center.

"All I’ve really been doing is working out," Ighodaro said. "Pretty much as I was doing at Marquette.

"It’s been good. I’ve been working out, lifting. Then in my free time, still playing games with the boys at Marquette and talking to them."

Ighodaro is living in a house with four other Klutch clients who are training for the NBA draft: Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr., Colorado's K.J. Simpson, Kentucky's Justin Edwards and Ulrich Chomche from NBA Academy Africa.

"In the morning, we usually have a two-hour workout on the court," Ighodaro said. "That’s like skills. Then we’ll have lift, and then we’ll eat lunch and then we’ll be back on the court for another hour or so. The second workout is usually a lot of shooting."

Scouts love Ighodaro's ball-handling, passing and defensive versatility. But Ighodaro attempted only two three-pointers at MU, and he knows NBA teams will have questions about his shooting.

"It’s been getting better," he said. "I’ve been shooting it well. Just gaining confidence with that."

Kolek has a similar setup in Chicago. He is living with Villanova's Justin Moore in an apartment complex in the River North neighborhood that houses a bunch of Priority clients.

In the morning, the prospects train at the East Bank Club. Then in the afternoon, they have basketball workouts at Quest Multisport, which once hosted the NBA combine before it moved to Wintrust Arena.

"It’s a talented group of guys," Kolek said. "A lot of guys you’d recognize. In the guard group, it’s me, Caleb Love, Justin Moore, (Johnny) Furphy from Kansas, Cam Spencer from UConn, Alex Karaban from UConn, Zyon Pullen from Florida and then Cormac Ryan from North Carolina.

"The big guys, they work out separately from us. It’s (Zach) Edey and (Kyle) Filipowski, the kid Quenten Post from Boston College and then Brandan (Carlson) from Utah."

Kolek also is focused on his shooting.

"Just trying to sharpen my game," he said. "The line is definitely an adjustment, the three-point line. The NBA line is just a different monster, a different beast."

Former teammate O-Max Prosper has given advice about NBA draft

It's not all basketball. Kolek threw out the first pitch at a recent Chicago White Sox game. Ighodaro is finishing up his MBA at MU with online classes.

But learning how to be professionals is top of mind. Ighodaro and Kolek are getting sound advice from a bunch of sources.

“Talking to Coach (Shaka Smart) and (MU assistant) Coach (Neill) Berry a lot," Ighodaro said. "Talk to (former MU teammate) O-Max (Prosper). Obviously my agent has been helping me a lot. I really like her."

Prosper can be an invaluable resource. He impressed teams at the NBA combine last year and became a first-round pick, landing with the Dallas Mavericks.

"He gave me a lot of intel on what the workouts are like," Ighodaro said. "And what he did to be prepared for them and stuff. Really just that. And then moving forward to when I’m on a team and how to handle that."

Kolek had a long talk with Prosper in Dallas after MU's season ended in the Sweet 16 at American Airlines Center.

"A little bit about the workouts and how his interviews with the team went and all that stuff," Kolek said. "More so about the season for him. And his process of trying to get in the rotation. He’s in the G League, he’s bouncing back and forth, that’s definitely a tough thing to do. Just talking about that stuff.

"Definitely got a lot of insight from not only my agent but other guys that went through the process last year that are here now again. You don’t know what you don’t know. You’re better off listening to somebody that has been through it. Better than just going into it blind."

It's a fascinating time for Kolek and Ighodaro, with their NBA dreams about to become reality.

"I’m excited," Ighodaro said. "A little bit nervous, obviously, because of the uncertainty of everything.

"I’ve been excited but just trying to take it one day at a time. Just try to enjoy the process and not try to get too far ahead of myself."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Oso Ighodaro are preparing for NBA combine