[OSUBasketballJunkie]

IndyStar

4/8/06

Olympic boss wants Oden
Colangelo makes personal pitch to 7-footer to practice with U.S. team

CHICAGO -- Greg Oden received a personal invitation Friday from Jerry Colangelo to practice with the U.S. Olympic basketball team and possibly play in the 2008 Olympics.




Colangelo, the Phoenix Suns owner who is in charge of USA Basketball's men's Olympic team, met Friday morning with Oden, in town for Sunday's Roundball Classic at the United Center; Mike Conley Sr., a longtime Oden family friend and summer basketball coach; and Reebok czar Sonny Vaccaro, who runs the Roundball Classic.

"Coach Conley made the point that I've challenged myself from the time I was young and goofy," Oden said after a photo shoot for Slam Magazine. "It would be a good thing to challenge myself and see what I've got to improve on. I'd love to do it (Olympic workouts)."

The 7-foot Ohio State-bound center said before making a decision, he would talk to his mom and Buckeyes coach Thad Matta.

Oden, who called it "a great honor" to be asked, had previously turned down a chance to work out with the team.

"I told him that I don't think I'm ready, but the big thing he and coach Conley and Sonny all said was, without me attending and playing, that I won't know where I stand," Oden said. "If anything, it'll be a learning experience to see what I have to work on."

As for playing in the 2008 Olympics, Oden said: "The reason he asked me is my progression. We'll see in the next two years. It could be a possibility."

Friday was Colangelo's first private meeting with Oden, but not the first time he's spoken about the Olympic program in front of the Lawrence North High School star. During his address at the McDonald's All-American Game banquet last week in San Diego, Colangelo made a passionate explanation of why he chose to head the Olympic effort.

"I've spent my entire life in the game on different levels, and here was an opportunity on an international stage to represent my country at a time when our basketball program needed an awful lot of work as a result of the World Championships in Indianapolis a few years ago and the Olympics in Athens," Colangelo told the crowd.

Oden said working out with the Olympic team would allow him to play "the type of game I want to play -- get rebounds, get the dirty points inside, play defense, throw outlet passes, things I want my game to be."

The USA men's senior national team is scheduled to practice July 19-25 and then July 31-Aug. 3 in Las Vegas. The 2006 World Championships are Aug. 19-Sept. 3 in Japan. The 2008 Olympics are Aug. 8-24 in Beijing.

Ohio State is on the quarter system, and the summer quarter begins June 19. The fall quarter begins in September. Players enrolled in June can work out on their own, but individual workouts with coaches are not allowed until the fall quarter.

Matta could not be reached for comment.

Colangelo was traveling back to Arizona on Friday afternoon and could not be reached.