Greg Oden's Diary - Jan. 13, 2006
- Greg Oden’s McDonald’s All-American High School All-Star Game Diary
- January 13, 2006, first excerpt
The McDonald’s All-American game is a great honor, and I would be very fortunate to be picked as one of the players for the San Diego game this year. Lots of great players have played in it.
I have been to San Diego before, and I enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to go to the San Diego Zoo.
Right now, sports-wise, my mind is on my high school basketball team. We are 11-0. Our goal is to be the best defensive team we could possibly be. If we reach that, and we would happen to win state, that would be great. But our main goal is to be the best defensive team we can be.
I’ve played basketball since I was in the fourth grade. I got started in Terra Haute, Ind. My first coach was Jimmy Smith. I played with his son Travis Smith, who is my best friend. They taught me the game from scratch, basically. Travis and Michael Conley – Michael is my high school teammate and future teammate at Ohio State – are cool and nice guys. They are very talented at what they do, and they are the kind of guys I surround myself with.
After I learned the game, I started to watch it on TV. I always watched the San Antonio Spurs’ David Robinson. He is my all-time favorite player.
I realized that I loved the game in the fifth grade, when I hit my first shot. I enjoyed that feeling, even though I made it for the wrong team!
Last year’s McDonald’s All-Star game was very exciting. Josh McRoberts was a teammate of mine in AAU basketball, so my whole AAU team went to see him play in the game at Notre Dame.
I know La Costa Canyon’s Chase Budinger is from San Diego, but I don’t really know him personally. I have played against him in tournaments and he is a great player. I also saw a clip of him in the ABCD camp DVD, and he seems like a cool dude.
I hope, if we make the McDonald’s game, Chase, Mike Conley and I are all on the same team. That would be great.
That’s all for now. If I get picked for the McDonald’s All-American High School All-Star game, I’m hoping to see you at the game in San Diego. I’m also hoping to see the San Diego Zoo.
