Chicago- It’s probably a stretch for a team with only four returning players, and which currently features just eight healthy scholarship athletes, to be named the preseason favorite in the Big Ten. That’s what happened to the Ohio State men’s basketball team Sunday.
Fine. But who gave Ohio State that one first-place vote in the USA Today preseason coaches poll last week?
“My mom,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said at the Big Ten’s annual preseason gathering in Chicago. “How you don’t vote [defending NCAA champion] Florida No. 1, I mean, wow, they’ve got everybody back. I don’t know, maybe somebody knows something that I don’t after 18 practices.”
Not that Matta can be taken at his word either. He might be a little too far on the woe-is-me side for a coach who brought in one of the top two recruiting classes in the country, featuring a once-in-a-decade talent in center Greg Oden.
This is just a sample of the praise heard for the 7-footer currently sidelined by wrist surgery: “Oden is a freak,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said, judging Oden’s potential effect as freshman. “You know, there’s Magic, I’m not sure even Michael was at that state. Magic was, LeBron would have been - there are a couple guys that come along that are special because they’re great players and great guys.”
So Oden belongs in the one-name club with Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Maybe Ohio State does deserve to be the preseason No. 1 team in the league.
“I understand it, because Ohio State has a little bit more back than people give them credit for,” said Izzo, a big fan of OSU junior guard Jamar Butler. “And then the addition of the big guy makes them really special. But if I had to go right now, I’d take Wisconsin, because I still think there will be some growing pains that Ohio State has to go through. Ohio State might wind up with the best team at the end of the year, but when Oden comes back, how is he going to fit in?”
That’s where Matta still offers no sure answer. He’s joking that he’d like to cancel the exhibition opener on Wednesday night.
“You’ll see that we are not ready to play a game yet,” Matta said. “I’m anxious to play, but I’m kind of apprehensive to see how we do.”
Oden’s right wrist will remain immobilized in a cast for at least another week or two, though he continues to shoot and block shots left-handed in practice. The target date remains Jan. 1, but Matta said he’ll be eased back in.
Also:
Ohio State was picked first, Wisconsin second and Illinois second in the official conference preseason media poll. . . . Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker was named the preseason player of the year and was joined on the preseason all-conference team by Oden, Indiana’s D.J. White, Penn State’s Geary Claxton and Iowa’s Adam Haluska. . . . The Ohio State women were the unanimous preseason No. 1 team in both the media and coaches poll, while senior Buckeyes center Jessica Davenport was named the preseason player of the year. Iowa sophomore center Megan Skouby, of Mentor, joined her on the first team.
source: cleveland.com
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