Dispatch
OHIO STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Difficult schedule awaits Buckeyes
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Coach Thad Matta knew the nonconference portion of the 2006-07 schedule would challenge his young Ohio State men’s basketball team. He put it together himself with that in mind.
He did not know the Big Ten would configure the conference portion of the schedule as it did: the opener at home against Indiana followed by road games at Illinois and Wisconsin. All three are forecast as upperdivision finishers in the race.
"They got me," Matta said yesterday after the schedule was released. "Hopefully you can keep your head above water and get into March and do some kind of good."
Seven-foot Greg Oden, widely touted as the best center prospect in a generation, heads a freshman class rated the first- or second-best in the country. But Oden had surgery on his right wrist in June, and no one has said for sure when he will be ready to play. Speculation has been six months from the surgery, which would be mid-December.
"We’re going to have him," Matta said. "I just don’t know when."
Four freshmen — guards Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and David Lighty are the other three — are among five first-year players on the roster. The other is 6-9 forward Othello Hunter, who has to complete classwork at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., this week before he can transfer.
Only nine scholarship players are on the roster, and only eight will be available until Oden returns. But that did not dissuade Matta from scheduling a road game at defending NCAA champion Florida, agreeing to play at North Carolina in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge or playing Cincinnati for the first time in 45 seasons. Not to mention taking on Tennessee, which won the Southeastern Conference East Division last season, finishing two games ahead of Florida.
"We’re trying to recruit the best (players)," Matta said, "so we want to play great teams and try to put this program in a situation where there are tough challenges early and hoping it makes us better for the Big Ten."
The Buckeyes’ season will start the earliest it ever has, Nov. 10, with the Black Coaches Association Classic in Value City Arena. The bracket for the three-day, eight-team tournament will be released Monday, but Ohio State is expected to play Virginia Military Institute in the first round.
Lewis helps Big Ten win
OSU senior-to-be Ron Lewis had 17 points, five assists and four rebounds as a team of Big Ten players wrapped up its trip to Australia with a 145-69 victory over the South District Spartans.
The Big Ten team won three straight games after losing its opener. Lewis was the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points.