I think that once we lost Hankins, we lost Obaseki, too. When Kris' dad, Michael, left the ORU program in the mid-80's, he landed with the Ken Hayes-coached team at Northeastern State. One of his teammates was Tom Hankins and Michael and Tom stayed connected from that time on.
With Tom gone (who was probably Kris' biggest advocate), it was either move to Carbondale or London. I believe Kris made the right choice!! Since Obaseki wasn't on the roster for the 2012-13 season, I have to believe that this has been the plan for some time.