Greg Oden, Should He Stay or Should He Go?

Greg Oden's stay at Ohio State could be quite possibly be a short one, and has been debated almost from the first day he set foot on the court for practice. So with his first season at Ohio State drawing to a close, now is as good a time as any to revisit the issue.

My comments are strictly coming from watching games closely, listening to and reading any interview I came across, and then trying to draw a comparison or two to past athletes that have either made the leap directly from high school, or bolted to the NBA after just season of college basketball.

I have followed college and professional basketball long enough to go all the way back to the Bill Willoughys of the world, who have been full of promise that never was quite realized at the professional level, to the Moses Malones who were at the opposite end of the spectrum and achieved great things while never playing a minute of college hoops. The question is, did not playing college basketball hurt or help any of the many high school stars as it relates to their decisions to skip college, and which side does Oden fall into as his decision time nears?

It is quite possible that Oden has already made a decision, and whatever the decision is, he and coach Thad Matta do not want tit to be a distractions as the Buckeyes attend to the task at hand of trying to win an NCAA title in 2007. At the time of this writing, the Buckeyes had reached the sweet 16, and were facing a formidable offensive challenge from Bruce Pearl's 3 point shooting happy Tennessee Volunteers.

We have all seen the interviews that tell us that Oden is really enjoying the college experience, and that he goes to class just like any other student, and if you saw him making his way around campus you wouldn't think that was anything different about him other than his size. They say he is easily approachable, doesn't let all the attention bother him and manages to stay focused on not only basketball, but his studies as well as he prides himself on being a good student as well a standout college athlete.

I will say that I believe this to be a pretty accurate "snap shot" of Greg Oden, with that being strictly my opinion. He seems to be a fine young man, a good teammate and a someone who doesn't shirk the responsibility of what his leadership and presence means to his team. The only example you would ever need to see of that would have been when he fouled out of the close call overtime game against Xavier, you would only need to zero in on the expression of helplessness on his face to know that wanted more than to see his teammate rally to bring home the win to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

I have also found it interesting how Oden has handled the changes in strategy that teams have begun to employ beginning with the Purdue game in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. At the offensive end, the Boilermakers employed a strategy of forcing Oden to defend the perimeter, taking him away from the basket that he so clearly dominates. Xavier also used this strategy effectively and pushed the Buckeyes to the brink of elimination that only a missed Xavier free throw, a desperation 3 point heave and a dominant overtime session saved them from. Oden has remained patient and allowed his teammates to assume heightened roles to help the entire team combat the changes in opposiiton strategies. He has remained poised at both ends of the floor.

So, where does all this leave Oden as it relates to the NBA, well as much as heart says I feel that he should stay another year at the college level for the sake of additional maturity and experience dealing with attention and hype that surrounds his every move, there is simply too much at risk for him not to say goodbye and good luck to Ohio State for the time being. Nothing says that he can't go back and finish his education, but financially, the NBA is just too much of sure thing that will make him and his family secure for the rest of their lives. You simply cannot ignore the fact, albeit a small risk, that a career threatening injury could occur during another season at the collegiate level, and despite the fact that he could insure himself against that, it would never make up for the financial end of things completely, nor ever compensate for a lifetime of "what if"?

Greg Oden seems like a nice young man that truly has enjoyed his time at Ohio State playing basketball, but logic clearly says that his time doing that is drawing to a close, and that most likely, barring any unforeseen circumstance that he will be the first pick in the next NBA draft, and a new chapter will begin in his life and career. I hope that those closet to him will surround him with support and guidance motivated by the best intentions for him, because we all should remember that he still needs it, as no one at that age, despite the physical gifts is ready to handle the other pressures that those gifts bring with them, money, expectations, media and hype. Good luck Greg, see you in the NBA soon.