INDIANAPOLIS - Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta has hit the jackpot.
7-foot, 240-pound center Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School of Indianapolis and his teammate, 6-foot-1-inch point guard Mike Conley, Jr. have given their verbal commitment to play for Matta's Buckeyes in 2006.
The duo join the two highest-rated players in Ohio - guards Daequan Cook of Dayton and David Lighty of Cleveland - in committing, giving the Buckeyes what many recruiting experts say are four of the top 20 recruits in the nation.
This year, Oden was named player of the year by Gatorade and co-player of the year by Parade Magazine. He was widely projected to be the first pick in next year's NBA draft, but that changed with the league's new 19-year-old age limit.
"I feel that if a player is good enough, he should have a chance to go," Oden said. "But it didn't really affect my decision because I always knew I wanted to go to college."
Oden and Conley have known each other since they were in the sixth grade. They have led Lawrence North to a record of 74-7, including 28-0 at home, and have captured two state championships.
"We know how to get each other up and down," Conley said. "I'll be looking at him the whole time even when he's got three people on him. The one second he gets open, I get (the ball) down for him."
In just 3 years at Lawrence North, Oden and Conley already own numerous school records. Oden is the school's all-time leading scorer with 1152 points, and once had 18 blocked shots in one game. Conley is first in career steals with 198 and needs 4 more assists to break that record.
Lawrence North head coach Jack Keefer had nothing but praise for his seniors-to-be.
"They're nice young men," he said. "They like to win, they lead people well, and they take care of each other. That's why they're going together: because they're a good combination of inside-outside."
Keefer also said Oden may be the best player ever to come out of the state of Indiana.
"This kid won two state championhips," he said. "(Larry) Bird didn't win any."
In addition to their on-the-court achievements, the two have scored just as well in the classroom. Oden and Conley's grade point averages were 4.0 and 3.7, respectively.
"We want to get an education, first and foremost," Oden said. "We want to win a national championship and develop into young men."
Conley says he was impressed with Matta's sales pitch.
"From day one, the first thing that came from his mouth was his vision," he said.
He said during the recruiting process, Matta sent the two a tape.
"It sold me in the first 10 minutes," Conley said. "He's a great coach and a great person."
Oden says that it in addition to Matta, Conley and Cook were the ones that got him on board with Ohio State when they were together at camp.
"They'd walk by me and say 'Greg, where are you going to college?,'" he said.
The group is already drawing positive comparisons to the "Fab Five," the Michigan recruiting class of 1991 that included future NBA stars Jalen Rose, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. Matta's 2006 class is already being dubbed the "Thad Five", as the coach expects to add one more to the group. That one could be small forward Thaddeus Young of Memphis, who many rank as one of the top ten players in the class.
"There's never going to be another 'Fab Five,'" Oden said. "They were the best, they were the first."
Regardless of Oden's modesty, Matta's Buckeyes have a chance to do something that Michigan's freshmen never did and win a national championship; the Wolverines came up short in the 1992 and 1993 NCAA championship games.
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