Coast is Clear for Greg Oden and Ohio State
By: Mike DeCourcy | SportingNews.com
Mr.Greg Oden, might we make a few suggestions for your time in Columbus ?
The Polaris Fashion Place is a terrific shopping mall.
The steaks are great at Mitchell's downtown. Get yourself a credit card and splurge a few times. You'll be able to pay off the balance soon enough.
The Arena district is very cool.
And if you see a stocky guy with a bad goatee who answers to the name, "Mo," walk the other way. Quickly.
On Friday, the NCAA cleared your way to follow through on the letter of intent you signed last November to play basketball at Ohio State . The Buckeyes will not be slapped with a postseason tournament ban beyond the one served last year of their own volition. They will face some minor recruiting sanctions that will have no impact on their blazingly successful recent recruiting, which includes three commitments from underclassmen in addition to your class, the elite group that will arrive this fall and has become known as the "Thad Five."
You'll see fewer banners around Value City Arena than when you visited. The NCAA is making them take those down, and pay back money made in four previous NCAA Tournament appearances. They'll still be able to afford your uniforms, so don't sweat that.
The organization slapped around former coach Jim O'Brien pretty hard, assigning a him "show-cause" penalty for five seasons. What that means is that any school choosing to hire O'Brien would have to go before the infractions committee to explain why he should be allowed to coach. (From a practical standpoint, it's the closest thing to a ban.) Former Buckeyes assistant Paul Biancardi, now head coach at Wright State , will be prohibited from recruiting until October 2007 - a period of nearly 19 months. That's two summers off the road, a crippling punishment for Biancardi. This won't affect you. After O'Brien was dismissed in June 2004, you were recruited to join the Buckeyes by Thad Matta and his staff.
Of course, Mr.Greg Oden, were you listening to your coaches and anyone who'd ever paid any attention to NCAA justice before, you understood Friday's announcement was just a formality. Has any program ever self-imposed a postseason tournament ban and then had the NCAA slap with another postseason sanction? No. But that didn't stop the speculation. It made for a good headline, and nobody could prove it wasn't true.
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Other Super Stars Sites
Greg OdenOnline.com: Website devoted to Greg Oden and his future accomplishments.
ReggieBushOnline.com:
A well-proportioned, super-swift tailback for the unbeaten and top-ranked Southern California Trojans,Reggie Bush runs, catches, passes and returns kicks in a relentlessly successful and versatile manner. Reggie Bush does anything and everything on the football field, and he does it better than everyone else. You can also check out
Reggie Bush Stats as well.
- CalvinHaynesOnline.com: Calvin Haynes (6-foot-2/185 pounds/Reseda, Calif./Taft HS) - Averaged 22.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists as a junior, helping Taft to a 22-5 record

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