Greg Oden - Oden to face top-ranked junior in gold-medal game

Oden to Face Top-Ranked Junior in Gold-Medal Game

By Jeff Rabjohns

SAN DIEGO -- For the second time this summer, there will be a head-to-head battle between the two high school basketball players ranked No. 1 in the next two graduating classes.

The USA White squad, led by Lawrence North's 7-foot senior center Greg Oden, will face USA Blue and Cincinnati junior shooting guard O.J. Mayo in the gold-medal game of the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival. The game tips off at 10 p.m. Saturday at San Diego State's Cox Arena.

Oden is the No. 1 player in the class of 2006 while the 6-4 Mayo is the top-ranked player in the 2007 class.

"He's most definitely the most dominating player in the country," Mayo said of Oden. "All you can do is try to contain him, help on defense, talk. He's the most dominant player in amateur basketball right now."

The two faced off earlier in an AAU tournament. In the Spiece Run 'N Slam in Fort Wayne in May, Greg Oden led Spiece Indy Heat to a 77-58 victory over Mayo's D-I Greyhounds. Greg Oden had 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks while Mayo had 27 points.

Mayo is the festival's leading scorer, averaging 26.3 points to go with four assists per game. He scored a game-high 29 points in Blue's 96-74 semifinal victory over the Red late Friday night.

Greg Oden's best game came in a 103-83 victory over USA Red on Thursday. Facing Stanford-bound 7-footer Brook Lopez and 7-foot Tom Herzog of Michigan, Greg Oden had game-highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds to go with three blocks and three assists

Greg Oden is averaging 16 points, 6.8 rebounds, and three blocks per game

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(Greg Oden is named MVP after winning a 2004 TOC Tittle)