It will be an agonizing wait for Matta, the Buckeyes and the two-time national high school player of the year, the likely No. 1 pick in this spring's NBA Draft if not for a change in the league's eligibility rules in the summer of 2005. Greg Oden, from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist on June 15.
He still has a screw inserted and is supposed to keep the wrist immobilized, so Matta hoped Greg Oden took off his brace merely for photos at OSU's media day Thursday at the Schottenstein Center. The defending Big Ten champions, winners of the school's first outright league title in 14 years, begin workouts Friday night and open the season Nov. 1 against Findlay.
"He's doing well," Matta said of Greg Oden. "It seems like he's right where they want him to be. His conditioning, those types of things are in great shape. Obviously I'd take him if it was earlier. But I don't want to put a player in a position that could jeopardize his future.
"Like I told Greg, if he never scores a point at Ohio State, what he's done for our program has been tremendous. We'll bring him along slow and get him right."
Matta did not allow freshmen to be interviewed, although Greg Oden might be made available in a week or two. So it was left to Matta to explain Greg Oden's level of frustration.
"He's tired of being injured right now," Matta said. "We go through things and he can only do a few of them and he has to get off the court. We'll involve him as much as we can. When you get into the games, that's going to bother him a little bit more.
"I've been very impressed with his basketball intellect and how he sees things. I think he's going to have the capabilities of really picking it up quick."
If the target date for Greg Oden holds up, 6-foot-8, 230-pound junior Matt Terwilliger might be the starting center during a rugged nonconference schedule that includes a Nov. 29 game at North Carolina and a Dec. 23 game at Florida. That means Terwilliger would have to guard the Tar Heels' Tyler Hansbrough and the Gators' Joakim Noah.
Conference play begins Jan. 2 at home against Indiana.
"I don't want him to rush back and risk hurting his wrist again, but I've been working on my four skills for 10 months. I'm ready to go at that position," Terwilliger said of Greg Oden. "Usually 6-10, 6-11 guys have 20 or 30 pounds on me. I'll have to use my quickness to get around `em."
Greg Oden heads a recruiting class that also includes his prep teammate Mike Conley, a 6-1 guard who is the son of Olympic triple jumper Mike Conley, David Lighty, a 6-5 guard/forward from Villa Angela-St. Joseph and Daequan Cook, a 6-5 guard from Dayton Dunbar. Another newcomer is Othello Hunter, a 6-9 forward from Hillsborough Community College.
But it is the presence of Greg Oden that has put Ohio State on the cover of several national college basketball previews even though junior guard Jamar Butler is the Buckeyes' only returning starter.
The attention on Greg Oden could be resented by some teammates, but that does not seem to be the case at OSU.
"They knew what was expected and they didn't come here with a big head," senior guard Ron Lewis said of the freshmen. "They came here ready to learn."
Asked his impression of Greg Oden, Butler said, "I think he's too nice. He needs to get a little meaner to me. He's a very nice, respectful kid."
What impressed senior forward Ivan Harris about Greg Oden is "how humble he is. People see him, it's like, `Man, he's 7-foot and he's 28 years old.' Once you meet him, he's very down to earth and gets along with anybody."
Those reactions do not surprise Matta.
"He's a special young man," he said of Greg Oden. "He's a caring kid. The humility he has, I don't know anybody who's ever walked his shoes who could be more humble than he is.
"He has a burning desire to be a great basketball player. The things that people have told him or have been written about him, he doesn't believe them. He wants to go out and do them himself."
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