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Published: August 07, 2008
Greg Oden ready for season



Little fans: Greg Oden autographs a basketball for five-year-old Rocco Roshel and his three-year-old brother Marcus Thursday night. The boys are the sons of Dr. John Roshel of Terre Haute.
Bob Poynter / The Tribune-Star


No. 1 NBA pick returns to former hometown for charity golf tourney
By David Hughes
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE The bond between childhood friends Travis Smith and Greg Oden remains strong 18 months after Smith?s tragic death.

Oden, a former Terre Haute resident and No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 National Basketball Association draft, returned to town Thursday to attend a cookout promoting the second annual ?Travis Smith Memorial Golf Classic Hosted by Greg Oden? today at the Country Club of Terre Haute.

Smith, a former standout golfer at Terre Haute South Vigo High School and a Ball State University freshman at the time, was killed in an auto accident in Muncie on Jan. 27, 2007. He was 19.

Jimmy Smith, Travis? father and executive director of the Terre Haute Boys & Girls Club, said proceeds from today?s private event will go to the Boys & Girls Club, with a percentage of that going toward the Travis Smith Memorial Fund.

?It?s just a good thing that Jimmy puts on,? Oden told the Tribune-Star. ?I?m glad I can be a part of it. I?ll help any way possible. I always come back here. I just love being around the Smiths and their family. Anything I can do to come back and help, I?m here for them.?

?Greg trusted Travis to talk to him about anything,? reflected Jimmy Smith, who said he and Oden talk on the phone about once a week. ?If Travis were still alive, I think Greg would still come back and do a golf outing? But I think it?s more special to him doing it in Travis? memory.?

Terre Haute News, Terre Haute, Indiana- TribStar.com - Greg Oden ‘ready for season’