REAL DEAL ON THE HILL : Play together, stay together
by BY CHRIS BAHN
Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005
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FAYETTEVILLE — Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. can’t remember the first time they met.
Of course they can’t recall introductions ever being necessary.
Teammates and friends since middle school, Oden and Conley entered this weekend’s Real Deal on the Hill with a chemistry as undeniable as their considerable basketball talents. "You can’t catch one of us without the other," said Conley, who teams with Oden on the Indianapolis-based Indy Spiece Heat. "We’re best friends and we’ve been together since sixth grade. We’d like to keep this going as long as we can. We have a lot of fun."
A glimpse of the two during a Friday afternoon shootaround at Bud Walton Arena affirmed that.
Oden and Conley began practice by racing to the same end of the court, following each other in a series of shooting drills. Rarely did the two pass each other without a playful punch, a clever comment or a sly grin. "We mess with each other," Oden said. "That’s just how we are when we’re together."
Keeping the duo intact beyond next year is becoming an increasingly unlikely prospect.
Both are being heavily recruited by some of the nation’s top college programs.
Oden, a 7-foot, 250-pound center with a 35-inch vertical leap, is also dealing with the lure of NBA fame and fortune, provided the league doesn’t implement a proposed age limit before his 2006 graduation.
For now, Oden says he’s committed to playing in college. He and Conley, a 6-1 point guard, are hopeful they will remain teammates after next season.
Others aren’t so sure. "In their minds, they will be going to college together," said Heat Coach Mike Conley Sr., a former Arkansas track star. "They aren’t just best friends, they are like brothers. Reality will set in at some point, though. When you are that young, you think you’ll live forever. They probably think they will be teammates forever."
Both list Wake Forest and Ohio State among their favorite schools. Beyond that, the lists vary.
Oden, who shrugs off talk of skipping college, also said he likes Indiana and Michigan State. Conley, who lived in Fayetteville until he was 11, includes Arkansas, Illinois and North Carolina among his favorites.
Anyone lucky enough to keep them together could reap the benefits.
Lawrence North Coach Jack Keefer knows first-hand how good the two are as teammates. Oden and Conley teamed up this year to bring their Indianapolis high school a second consecutive Class 4A Indiana state championship.
Oden averaged 20 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.7 blocks this season, while Conley added 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists for 29-2 Lawrence North. "It’s really an ‘I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine’ mentality with the two of them," Keefer said. "Greg thinks Mike is the greatest player in the world. Mike thinks Greg is the greatest player in the world."
Conley isn’t the only one.
A polished defender and crisp passer out of the paint, Oden has been turning heads since his freshman season. With one year of high school remaining, Oden already has been selected as national player of the year by Gatorade and Parade magazine.
Keefer, who coached former North Carolina star Eric Montross and recently staffed the McDonald’s All-American game, said Oden is "far and away the best I’ve seen. There’s a reason he’s getting all the attention."
One college coach on hand to watch the Heat in the Real Deal tournament marveled at Oden’s maturity and grasp of the sport. "Forget next year. If he came out this year, he’d be a top 10 pick," the coach said. "He’s a pro right now. What everybody likes is his potential. He runs like a deer, reacts quickly to the ball, recovers well. He’s got considerable talent."
Coaches on hand for the weekend tournament compared Oden to a younger version of a number of accomplished big men, including Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan and Patrick Ewing.
Comparisons to Duncan are the hardest to ignore. Like the San Antonio Spurs’ stoic center, Oden seems as effortless on the floor as he is uncomfortable off it. "There is not really anything too good about [the attention]," Oden said. "I just want to play basketball. I don’t really want all this."
Amid the hype, Oden is down to earth. He’d rather talk about his 5-month-old pit bull, Junior, than the recent declaration of Greg Oden Day in Indianapolis. A summer trip to Hollywood for the ESPY Awards can’t make up for the simple trips to the store he can no longer enjoy in peace. "Everywhere he goes he gets messed with," Mike Conley Jr. said. "People are constantly trying to talk with him. It hasn’t changed him, though. He’s still the same guy he’s always been."
Oden deflects much of the attention he receives to Conley. He praises his teammate for keeping him grounded, and, of course, keeping the ball in his hands. "He makes me who I am," Oden said of Conley. "I wouldn’t be me without him. People say I’m the best player in the nation, but he has a lot to do with that."
