the game of his life
Graduating to greatness
With one high school game left, Greg Oden has earned a place among Hoosier hoops heroes
The summer before Greg Oden entered eighth grade, he was urged to play in a basketball tournament in St. Louis that brought together some of the nation's best young players.
Shy and unsure of his ability, Oden begged not to go. He finally relented, and dominated. Afterward, a talent scout proclaimed Oden would be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft immediately after high school.
Yet when Oden entered Lawrence North High School the next fall, he remained relatively unknown outside basketball circles. Six-foot-11 but skinny and self-conscious, he started down his new path, walking that thin line of those pegged at a young age for greatness. He could fulfill that potential or fizzle, like so many "sure things" before him.
Saturday in the Class 4A state championship game at Conseco Fieldhouse, Oden will complete a four-year journey that has seen him become one of the nation's most-honored high school basketball players ever. Along the way, he has ascended to the Mount Rushmore of Hoosier hoops heroes, putting his name alongside Oscar Robertson, George McGinnis, Steve Alford and Damon Bailey.
"He's at the top with all of them, and he's done it in such a humble way, such a classy way," said Doug Mitchell, coach of conference rival North Central. "He goes down in history as being the dominant player on one of the most dominant teams, in modern days anyway.
"You've got to mention his name in the same breath with Oscar and George."
During a break at the Big Ten men's basketball tournament earlier this month at Conseco Fieldhouse, Garry Donna had a conversation with Brent Musburger of ESPN. Musburger pointed to the Hoosier Basketball Magazine that Donna has been publishing for 36 years, which, this year, has Oden's face on the cover. Musburger asked if the 7-footer was as good as advertised.
"I said, 'No, he's not,' " Donna recalled. "I told him, 'He's beyond what you've heard.' "
As Oden gets ready for his next step, to Ohio State in the fall, his disposition remains steady. He appreciates the accolades but refuses to ease up on his relentless routines, his 6:30 a.m. workouts and unyielding shooting drills.
"I just know I'm not there yet," Oden said as he stretched out in a recliner in the Lawrence North locker room after practice. "I know I have a lot to improve on. I think people look at potential, and I'm not that way, to let things go to my head.
"I don't feel I'm all that, the big man on campus, as people would say."
Buzz began last season
There's no question Oden has become a celebrity, if an unassuming one.
The frenzy began in earnest last season, when Lawrence North was heading toward a second consecutive state title and Oden was on the way to joining current NBA star LeBron James as the only juniors to be named national high school Player of the Year.
Autograph-seekers began popping up everywhere. After a game in Terre Haute, a rope line was set up to organize the horde. Jim DeSalle, the local Reebok representative who attends every Lawrence North game and practice, handed Oden a Sharpie. He started signing and posing for pictures, finishing a half-hour later.
He started appearing on magazine covers, on national TV. Over the summer, he sat with Reebok executive Sonny Vaccaro, one of the most powerful men in basketball, for a series of televised interviews. He hung out in Los Angeles with Peyton Manning and Kevin Garnett at a pre-ESPY luncheon.
This year the attention has grown. After a game this year at Bloomington South, uniformed police closed off the staircase that led to the hallway that led to the visiting locker room to keep the crowds away. One police officer handed a student manager a program, asking for autographs from Oden and teammate Mike Conley.
"It's for my kids," the officer pleaded.
Autographed Oden memorabilia already has shown up on the Internet, including a basketball going for $124.99. He has two fan Web sites. Next week, Jerry Colangelo, head of the U.S. Olympic basketball program, plans to come to Indianapolis to talk to Oden about his future on the team.
But those who have coached and competed against him will remember other things about his high school days.
Larry Nicks will remember the night of the Crispus Attucks forum in March 2005. The Arlington Golden Knights' coach had brought his team to the school to support point guard Tim Smith, one of the panelists invited to discuss the 50th anniversary of Crispus Attucks becoming the first all-black school to win a state basketball title.
Oden showed up on his own. The next night he would block 18 shots in a heated game against the previously undefeated Golden Knights, but this night he sat with his rivals, at Nicks' invitation.
"He's always been the kind of kid who can be a friend off the court, but come game time, he's got his game face on," Nicks said. "I was impressed he would take the time. My whole team was there and we had a kid on the panel, but there weren't too many basketball kids who came on their own.
"That tells you the kind of kid he is."
Among many other things, Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer will remember Oden's reaction as a freshman after he went 0-of-9 from the free throw line in a loss to top-ranked Pike in the regional final.
He didn't cry or hang his head. He went into the locker room and apologized to his teammates, saying he cost them the game. He immediately started working on his free throws.
This year he leads the team, shooting 79 percent.
Lots of growth
Now Oden stands 7 feet tall, a muscled, athletic 255 pounds, miles from the skinny freshman who entered high school. In leading his team to a 28-0 record this season, he has averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
He could average more, certainly. In a semistate victory over Bloomington South last weekend, Oden scored just eight points but drew so much defensive attention that his team won by 18. Afterward, a reporter from Ohio asked what he had to say to Ohio State fans expecting to see 30-point games from their heralded recruit.
"I hope they say he's a three-time state champion," Oden replied.
Donna said that game was just another example of Oden's seldom-surpassed basketball sense, an understanding of what needs to be done for the team to succeed, not for a star to pile up points.
"You don't see a lot of people who do that. The great players -- Damon Bailey and Stephanie White were two great high school players who did that," Donna said, referring to previous Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. and Miss Basketball winners. "In the pros, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, they did that. They created those opportunities and then facilitated those opportunities by getting the ball to those people.
"That's how he is."
Keefer says one of the reasons Oden is so good is that he doesn't think he is. He works at every perceived deficiency.
"When you're goal-oriented, and you've got direction, that's what gets you up early in the morning, even if it's snowy and cold," Keefer said. "That gets you working after practice. That gets you working on things you looked bad at in the last game."
Oden says he's been blessed with solid influences, from his parents to a longtime high school coaching staff to former Olympic gold medalist Mike Conley Sr., who's been his summer coach since he was in sixth grade and has guided him through that often ego-inflating world.
Now Oden prepares to be a freshman again. This time, people know who he is. And the expectations will be even greater. But many think he's already proved himself as a player and a person.
"He doesn't dance. He doesn't jive. There's not all this other stuff," Donna said. "When he gets $140 million or whatever he gets, I'll be happy for him."
One game remains, one victory from tying state records of three consecutive titles and a 45-game winning streak. One victory from becoming the first high school team from Indiana to finish ranked No. 1 in USA Today's national poll.
How has the journey been?
"It's been a lot of fun," Oden said. "If you ask me that same question a week from now and we get one more victory, I'll be so excited. Right now I just want to finish it. Hopefully we have our best game and come out with a victory."
Call Star reporter Jeff Rabjohns at (317) 444-6183.
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03-24-2006, 10:29 AM
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