The only scary thing about having a 7-foot, 245-pound, 18-year-old freshman walking around on campus during the summer time is not knowing whether or not this goliath will be ready to play come time for the Ohio State men's basketball team's regular season tip-off.
It's been nearly a month since Greg Oden, OSU's prized recruit and former No.1 prep player in the country, underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. Still no one - at least that's what they are saying - has the slightest idea if the freshman center will be ready to go by the OSU season opener in November.
"It's a week-to-week process," OSU spokesman Dan Wallenberg said. "Greg is being evaluated weekly, but as of right now, there is no update on his progress."
Some published reports have Oden out as long as mid-December as doctors expect about six-month timetable for the former Indiana Player of the Year to fully recover. An MRI scheduled for later this summer is expected to give a better indication of Oden's return.
According to the Buckeye Sports Bulletin, Oden is already rehabilitating with team doctors at OSU.
Attempts to reach Oden, who began classes at OSU this summer, were unsuccessful.
During Oden's surgery on June 16 at the Indiana Hand Center, OSU men's basketball coach Thad Matta paced the floor of the patient waiting room for two hours until the surgery was complete, according to the Associated Press.
"It seemed like forever," said Jack Keefer, Oden's head coach at Lawrence North High School, who was also on hand during Oden's surgery.
Oden, who shot 74 percent from the field and averaged 22 points and 10.5 rebounds a game during his senior season, first hurt his wrist during a state tournament game in February but played through the injury. He later went on to play in two national high school all-star games - the McDonald's All-American Game in San Diego, in late March; and the Roundball Classic in Chicago in April. Oden then was forced to drop out of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Game after a visit to the doctor and a follow-up MRI in mid-June showed the injury had not fully healed.
"It was a complete tear," Keefer told the Associated Press. "They put a screw in there, a clamp and whatever they do in there and (the doctor) felt very good about what took place."
Keefer has said in many reports that he is not totally sure if Oden, who won three consecutive Indiana high school Class 4A championships while at Lawrence North, will start the season for the Buckeyes or not, but says "he definitely will get in there somewhere down the line."
Keefer compared Oden's injury to a torn ACL and said the ligament in his right wrist is what gives a player the ability to grip the basketball.
"One thing's for sure: we're going to make sure he has a left hand once this is all over," Matta told The Sporting News.
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