Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
gsnuts.....no need to after the next few weeks.44820, when are you going to bump it to 60-65%:tongue2: . I'm loving how the mo Thad has built is starting to topple the domino's the way he wants them to fall!!:osu:
</CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER><CENTER><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Mike Conley Jr.
</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>Spiece Coverage: Conley and Cook
By Kyle Lamb
Date: Apr 30, 2005
Kyle Lamb provides a report from the Spiece Run 'N Slam tournament in Fort Wayne, Ind. Today he has interviews with Spiece Indy Heat teammates Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook. We will have updates all weekend. Click here for more.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Conley is very excited about his upcoming visit to OSU and says there is a very, very high possiblity that he will make a decision soon after his visit.May 2, 2005
Conley says he could opt for OSU very soon
Either Conley was caught up in the dreamy "Thad Five" scenario like everyone else or he already knew something when he said, "I'm very excited. I don't know what's going to happen after we commit. I hope the best comes out of me because a lot of talk is that if we commit, a lot of other people will look at the school and we'll become a great program. Hopefully that's what will happen if that comes out that way."
Added Cook, "I'm sure the coaches will let us get together and talk about the situation. It's a big step up for them (the Buckeyes). I feel we aren't going to do anything other than play up to our potential, play up to the hype."
The match-up between Oden/Conley vs Mayo/Walker would be interesting to see.Oden's AAU team wins key matchup
Spiece Indy Heat take tournament crown with victory over team led by O.J. Mayo.
<!-- SIDEBAR --><!-- ARTICLE SIDEBAR --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=10></TD><TD><!--MAIN PHOTO--><!--RELATED ARTICLES--><!--RELATED PHOTO GALLERIES--><!----><!--RELATED PHOTOS GALLERIES AND MULTIMEDIA ASSETS--><!--MAIN FACTS BOX--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Oden Update
• Staying put at No. 1: Talent scout Dave Telep said Greg Oden remains the top player in the nation in his class and has yet to have that status challenged. "He's a 7-1 center that runs the floor, blocks shots. He changes games defensively," Telep said Sunday, while watching Oden's AAU team, the Spiece Indy Heat, win the Spiece Run 'n' Slam Classic, which drew hundreds of the top players in the nation. "His stock is not going anywhere." In the championship game, Oden had 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as Spiece beat the D1 Greyhounds, led by 6-5 O.J. Mayo, the No. 1 player in the 2007 class.
• A new Fab Five? Since Dayton Dunbar's Daequan Cook gave an oral commitment to Ohio State in March, there has been considerable speculation that Oden and Lawrence North classmate Mike Conley would follow. Cook has been trying to make it happen. "We've been talking a lot," said Cook, a 6-5 shooting guard ranked as the No. 8 player in the Class of 2006 and an AAU teammate of Oden and Conley. "We always said that we were going to play basketball together. It's always been on our mind to go to the same college. It'd be fun. We could win an NCAA championship. A championship would be bound to happen." Ohio State is also the leader for 6-5 David Lighty, a top-20 talent in Oden's class. Those four would make for the best recruiting class in the nation.
• Early hiccup: Oden's AAU team entered the summer season ranked No. 1 in the country by Telep with a star lineup that also included North Central's Eric Gordon. Spiece lost to Memphis Pump-N-Run in the final of its first event, the Real Deal on the Hill in Arkansas, with Oden scoring just 11 points after dominating the early rounds
• Going global: One of the most interesting events this summer is for individuals, but with team in mind -- Team USA. Oden and Conley have been invited to the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival in June, to be held in either Colorado Springs, Colo., or San Diego. For the first time, the Youth Festival will include international teams: from Russia, China, New Zealand and Canada. With the U.S. slipping in recent Olympics, USA organizers wanted to familiarize future U.S. players with the international game earlier. "It's an education process," USA Basketball men's director Sean Ford said. "It's knowing that skill and teamwork are important and that respecting your opponent is where you have to begin."
• Mowing local: If the weather is nice, it's possible you could see a 7-footer mowing a lawn near you. Oden's summer job is working for the mowing business run by Lawrence North assistant Ralph Scott. "When we don't have open gym, I'll work," Oden said. "It's trimming, mainly."
-- Jeff Rabjohns
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!--ADDITIONAL FACTS --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- STORY TEXT --><!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->
By Tracy Dodds
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--document.write(''+'tracy.dodds'+'@'+'indystar.com'+'');//--></SCRIPT>[email protected]
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- With two of the nation's top high school basketball players going against each other, hundreds of fans filled Spiece Fieldhouse -- and then some -- for Sunday's Run 'n' Slam Classic title game.
The objects of the fans' desire: Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School and Spiece Indy Heat, the nation's No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2006; and O.J. Mayo of Cincinnati North College Hill and D1 Greyhounds, tabbed No. 1 for the Class of 2007.
On this day, Oden got the best of Mayo, getting 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots in Spiece's 77-58 victory.
This matchup may become a trend on the AAU circuit.
"It's the first of many times we'll probably play this year, and I look forward to playing against him," Mayo said.
Throughout the three-day tournament, Spiece and the D1 Greyhounds were magnets for the biggest crowds. Both teams feature many of the nation's top-flight high school players.
With Oden on the Spiece team were Michael Conley Jr., who also will be a senior at Lawrence North, and Eric Gordon, who will be a junior at North Central.
With Mayo on the D1 Greyhounds was Bill Walker, who also will be a junior at North College Hill.
After Spiece beat D1 Greyhounds, Spiece coach Michael Conley -- the younger Conley's father and a former Olympic triple jump star -- couldn't say enough about the talent on the court.
"There were a lot of future pro and college players on that court," Conley said. "There were some potential top picks, No. 1 draft picks. That was quite a show for $10."
Actually, admission was $5 Sunday, a day on which both teams played three games before meeting in the final.
In all, the Spiece Indy Heat had to win nine games to get the trophy. Three days, 156 teams competing in three categories, and the game the fans wanted finally materialized.
Backing Oden's effort in the final game was Daequan Cook (Dayton Dunbar) with 20 points. Gordon had 16.
Conley was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament's top division.
Mayo scored 27 points -- many of them after the outcome was assured -- and Walker 12 in the final game.
Getting to the final was no small task. It was Spiece's depth -- or, as its coach pointed out, the quality depth and guts -- that allowed the team to win so much and have something left for the title game.
"When you have the depth we have, you don't have to play as much, especially during the early parts of the tournament," Oden said.
D1 Greyhounds had an easier time in their semifinal game, making quick work of the King James Shooting Stars 69-46, while Spiece had to fight off a determined Illinois Fire 71-61.
"They were a good team," Oden said. "They wanted to beat us."
As did Mayo's team, which beat Oden's team two years ago in their only other matchup.
There could be something of a rematch during the high school season. The athletic directors for Lawrence North and Cincinnati's North College Hill are trying to set up a game. The idea is for the game to be on TV in early December, possibly at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer said: "We've tried to work with them in many ways but haven't been able to get any movement."
If that doesn't pan out, the Wildcats likely will target Dayton Dunbar, led by Ohio State recruit Cook, an AAU teammate of Oden's, for that date.
The Wildcats have an opening for an opponent in the Circle City Classic and an open date in early December that last year was used for the game against Poplar Bluff (Mo.), which was shown on ESPN2.
Lawrence North athletic director Grant Nesbit said his school will still try to work with Mayo's school. "We would love to play Mayo's team," Nesbit said.