Greg Oden
Greg Oden (born January 22, 1988 in Buffalo, New York) is, as of 2006, widely considered to be the best high school basketball player in the United States. He is currently a senior at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. Oden was named Parade Magazine's High School Co-Player of the Year 2005 (along with Monta Ellis) and 2005 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, becoming the first junior since LeBron James to be named such. Also, Oden was named Parade Magazine's High School Player of the Year and Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2006, winning the award in back-to-back years.
On June 29, 2005, Oden and Lawrence North teammate as well as best friend Mike Conley verbally announced that they would be attending Ohio State University starting with the 2006-2007 season. Many thought that Oden would have declared himself eligible for the 2006 NBA Draft, and likely would have been the first player selected, but the NBA instituted new rules starting with the 2006 draft that make U.S. players ineligible for the draft until at least one year after high school graduation. However, Oden repeatedly stated that he would not forgo college for the NBA.
In the 2005-06 season, Oden, a 7-foot-½-inch 245 lb (2.14 m, 100 kg) senior, led Lawrence North to an undefeated record, a third straight Class 4A Indiana state championship and the first ever top finish for an Indiana school in USA Today's Super 25 rankings. For the season, the center scored 22.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 74 percent from the field. Oden dominated in the state championship game against Muncie Central, scoring a game-high 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Lawrence North won their last three state championship games by a combined 56 points and their average margin of victory during the regular season was 21 points. Oden was also on the McDonald's All-American Team and played in the All-American game.
Oden has been invited to participate on the 2008 USA Olympic Basketball team. He has been widely compared to retired NBA star center David Robinson.
External links
- Greg Oden home page (fan site, not official page)
- Greg Oden profile @ nbadraft.net
Greg Oden also has many different friends in the NBA, those being LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. They were friends and they loved going to basketball games with each other. However, Dwayne was out practicing with Lebron when Greg decided to steal Dwayne's girlfriend. This annoyed Dwayne, and they never spoke again. The rivalry between Greg and Dwayne only increased ever since. They will most likely settle the dispute on the basketball court.
RAIHAAN STINKS!!!!!!!