Neat Oden Interview
Oden expects big season from his replacement Koufos
Updated: September 27, 2007
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
David Lighty is one Ohio State freshman who stuck around for a second season, and he should emerge this season.
TUALATIN, Ore. -- Ohio State isn't projected to win the Big Ten, compete for a national title, or for that matter, even be a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
That's in large part, obviously, because of the departures of three members of last season's superb freshman class who ended up being NBA first-round picks --
Greg Oden,
Mike Conley Jr. and
Daequan Cook -- and seniors Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris. That means the Buckeyes have lost five of the top six scorers from a national runner-up team.
Still, there is plenty of hope. The USA Under-19 team coaches, led by head coach Jerry Wainwright of DePaul, raved about OSU sophomore
David Lighty and his all-around play.
Oden, of course, agreed with Wainwright's assessment of Lighty's game since Oden played with Lighty in high school (AAU team) and then last season at Ohio State.
And with the return of Lighty, experienced point guard
Jamar Butler (who held the position before Conley's arrival) and interior role players
Othello Hunter and
Matt Terwilliger, there is reason to be excited in Columbus.
But it is Oden's replacement, 7-foot freshman
Kosta Koufos, who has received perhaps the most praise of any OSU player entering this season. Koufos already had the nod as one of the country's great sleepers this season when he was tabbed MVP of the U-18 European Championships this summer while playing for the silver medalist Greeks.
The No. 1 pick himself heaped even more praise on Koufos on Thursday.
"I played against him this summer when he came to open gyms a couple of times," Oden said Thursday, the first time he has spoken publicly since having microfracture surgery on his right knee on Sept. 13, a procedure that will keep him out for the 2007-08 season.
"He hit me with a fadeaway jump shot and he's 7 feet tall," Oden said with a grin. "I'm guarding him and I said, 'You kidding me?' I know he's really good and got really good overseas this summer. I haven't had a chance to talk to him. But I'm going to give him a call sometime soon."
Oden continued to pump up his former squad by saying that
Eric Wallace, a 6-5 freshman, should be added to the list of reasons why the Buckeyes will still be in the mix. And that's not even mentioning 6-8 forward
Dallas Lauderdale, who provides even more depth.
Granted, without seeing the Buckeyes this early, it's hard to tell how well this crew will mesh. But it's clear the team, especially Koufos, has the blessing of Oden.
"The guys told me he's in the gym 10 hours a day, and if he keeps doing that he's going to work himself out [to exhaustion]," Oden said of Koufos, who is a native of Canton, Ohio, but played for Greece because of his ethnic heritage. Koufos decided against taking a Greek professional team's offer after the European tournament in Spain.
Entire article:
ESPN - Katz: Ohio State will be tough even without Oden - Men's College Basketball
