County Male: Greg Oden, Lawrence North Fran Fraschilla stood in the Lawrence North High School gymnasium, watching the boys basketball team practice. The former college coach turned ESPN announcer was in town in December to cover a Wildcats game, and he wanted a first-hand look at the main attraction.
After watching the 7-foot, 260-pound Greg Oden, Fraschilla decided there were no modern comparisons.
"From the mid-'70s on, I've seen all the guys. Shaq. Ralph Sampson. Alonzo Mourning. He's the best," Fraschilla said of The Star's 2006 Marion County Male Athlete of the Year.
"I think defensively, he can hold his own right now in the NBA, and offensively, he's going to get tip dunks and the close-in shots, run the floor, get points that way. And that's before all the work on his post game really starts to kick in."
Greg Oden is the seventh county Athlete of the Year from Lawrence North since the award began in 1950. He ends his high school career as one of the most decorated prep basketball players of all time, joining LeBron James as the only two-time national Player of the Year.
Greg Oden is considered such an important part of America's basketball future that Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, head of the USA Basketball men's program, invited Greg Oden to scrimmage with the national team.
Locally, Greg Oden spearheaded a Lawrence North run that included three consecutive state titles and a state record-tying 45-game winning streak. He never lost a home game. He never lost a conference game.
Greg Oden never lost a sense of being himself, either. On Saturday he was supposed to play in an all-star game in Knightstown, Ind., commemorating the movie "Hoosiers."
Though Greg Oden couldn't play because of doctor's orders to rest his right wrist, he spent nearly 10 hours in the town, signing autographs and speaking to children.
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