...People don’t blink much around Greg Oden, but they whisper a lot.
They ask to put their hands against his for comparison, and inquire about his shoe size (18). Most of the time, they stare, as if hypnotized by his immense size: 7 feet and 280 pounds.
"I just want to be a regular person," Oden said. "It’s hard to be 7-foot and be around. I just can’t go anyplace and do regular things like other people. I try to be discreet when I go places and do regular things."
The Ohio State freshman basketball player has always left strangers gawking, whether as a 6-4 sixth-grader, a 6-8 eighth-grader or a highschool junior at his current height...
...He will make a triumphant return to Indianapolis today, when the Buckeyes play the University of Cincinnati for the first time in 44 years.
Indianapolis is where Oden was twice named the national highschool player of the year, and where he and teammate Mike Conley Jr. led Lawrence North to a 103-7 record and Indiana state championships in the final three of their four seasons. Oden and Conley have played together since 2000 on AAU teams, in middle school, at Lawrence North, and now at OSU.
Indianapolis is also where those who know Oden best appreciate him for who he is, not what he does....
GO BUCKEYES!