Greg Oden's Diary -- Jan. 24, 2006

Greg Oden's McDonald's All-American High School All-Star Game Diary

January 24, 2006, second excerpt

People often ask me what it was like being recruited. I’ve heard the college recruiting process is a nightmare for a lot of heavily recruited high school football and basketball players, but my experience was totally the opposite.

It was fun, and I enjoyed visiting the schools where I took recruiting trips. It was fun to see other colleges and see life in other places.

I thank my Mom, Zoe, and my high school coaches, head coach Jack Keefer and assistant coach Ralph Scott, for helping me through the recruiting process. They screened all the phone calls and contacts that were made by college coaches. I didn’t talk to coaches on the phone many times. Coach Scott describes my Mom as a strong person, and he’s right.

Maybe they should write a book about how to make college recruiting fun.

The first recruiting contacts I received were questionnaires from colleges when I was in ninth grade. I was 6-foot-10 then.

I wasn’t really all that excited about getting the first recruiting contacts like some young high school players. That’s just the way I am. The questionnaires were long and took a long time to fill out.

Before I picked Ohio State, I took my recruiting trips to Michigan State, Wake Forest and IU. Where I’m from people just say IU when they mean Indiana.

Michigan State was a cool place, but Ohio State is the place where I felt the most comfortable. It’s the right distance from home and the players are cool. I just hope the beds are big enough for me in the dorm rooms.

My teammate at Lawrence North, Michael Conley, also picked Ohio State. We go back to sixth grade, and some people think we picked the school together. But we both made our own decision. It’s just fortunate that we both liked same school.

I’m pretty good in math, so I plan to major in accounting. I figured that’s a good way to further my education.

I’m looking forward to college life. I know when people get older they want to stay young for as long as possible, but I’m looking forward to moving on in life.

But what’s most important right now is my high school season. Our team is 14-0 overall and 3-0 in the Metropolitan League.

As I’ve told you before, our team's goal is to keep improving our defense before the state playoffs begin.

Editor's note

Lawrence North season update

Oden saved his best season game for a national ESPN television audience. The two-time defending Indiana state Class 4A champion Wildcats dominated city rival Warren Central by 78-59 as the 7-foot Ohio State-bound Oden scored 33 points, collected 12 rebounds, blocked four shots and dished off three assists. Oden converted 13 of 18 goals and seven of eight foul shots. Fellow Ohio State recruit Mike Conley scored 18 points in North’s 30th straight win. The crowd included OSU coach Thad Matta and Illinois coach Bruce Weber, who has recruited Warren Central junior Eric Gordon.