More often than not, Greg Oden’s seven-foot silhouette is enough to dwarf the tallest of adversaries. At the Historic Hoosier Gym, Greg Oden was nothing more than a humbled tourist merely posing as a hardwood enforcer.

 A three-time Indiana basketball Class 4A state champion at Lawrence North High School and a giant in the infinite lore of Hoosier Hysteria, the prep star stood before a capacity crowd on Friday night during The Hoosiers Reunion All-Star Classic about as menacing as Ollie on stilts.

“Thank you all for coming here tonight to watch these all-stars play,” Greg Oden said over a loudspeaker after an announcement was made confirming his sidelining due to an injured wrist. “I’m sorry I can’t play, but my shorts are too small.”

A better question would be what isn’t?

A no-brainer first-round draft lottery pick — minus that pesky NBA age-limitation rule — Greg Oden might be the biggest thing to hit the court since Air Jordans, but he sure isn’t one to boast even if he’s arguably the greatest player this state’s ever seen.

“Yeah maybe, but I don’t really think I am anyway,” a notion Greg Oden modestly downplays. “It’s just an honor to be part of the history.”

Don’t kid yourself, Mr. Basketball. Go ahead and gloat, you’ve earned it.

But he won’t. It’s not in his character, despite national acclaim and ESPN spotlights.

The main attraction on North Washington Street in downtown Knightstown even while his Indiana All-Star teammates swarmed the Hickory Huskers home floor Friday evening, Greg Oden couldn’t turn a corner without someone strategically placing themselves in his path.

Programs and pens lunged in front of his face, cameras prepped with flashes on stand-by, the National High School Player of the Year never refused an extended hand, an interview request and especially a child’s doe-eyed stare.

Bigger than life, but down to earth. Greg Oden is everyone’s best friend. Just another 18-year-old kid going on fifty something, who loves Zebra Cakes, but isn’t impervious to a few adolescent relapses.

“He’s like that around us. He’s just soft-spoken around (the media),” Indiana All-Star Vaughn Duggins said. “But he’s a little jokester. He’s funny.”

Little? Imagine that.

Playfully clashing with a Shooter look-a-like, who wandered onto the gym floor late in the second half as Hickory faced a deficit against Terhune, Greg Oden let his inner child breathe by bouncing the intruder, stirring laughter in the stands.

“He’s safe!,” the actor screamed at the officials while waving his hands belligerently. “You’re blind.”

Thump. Oh, hello Mr. Greg Oden. Hi, Maplewood floor.

“That was a lot of fun,” the Ohio State Buckeye recruit said afterward. “I met him in the back beforehand. He’s a good actor.”

So is Greg Oden, but not at being like Mike or anybody else. He’s just plain old Greg Oden. An All-American role model who digs watching Dwight Howard on TV and can’t help having fun on his way toward shaking hands with David Stern in a few years.

Of course, there’s the matter of the Kentucky All-Stars. Something tells me the joke is on them.

 

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