'Every time Greg seems to be about to trend upward, something happens,' said James Jones, a teammate of Oden's for a season with the Portland Trail Blazers and last season with the Heat. Now, with NBA training camps set to open in two weeks, both his basketball and personal life are defined by questions yet again. Now, with Oden's playing career potentially over and his freedom at stake because of a felony domestic violence charge, Lawrence North High School administrators, coaches and students respond to inquiries about him by sulking or politely declining to speak.Īfter nearly four years on the sideline, Oden overcame the injuries that sent his life into a spiral and returned to an NBA court, playing sparse minutes for the Miami Heat last season. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft once filled the halls of this prep school with pride.

The former top-ranked high school prospect, Ohio State star and No. Nearly a decade has passed since Oden stood as a towering figure here, a 7-footer with the potential to become the NBA's next great center, the next Russell or Wilt or Kareem.īut what Oden could have been is now a relic, too. Basketball and Gatorade's 2006 national player of the year. Another shows one of the many emphatic dunks that earned Oden honors as Indiana's Mr. One image captures Greg Oden battling for low-post position on the way to leading the Wildcats to a third straight state title and the nation's No. Hovering above them, centered inside the floor-to-ceiling shrine of championship memorabilia, is a poster of the primary contributor to the display. The group bursts into a set of jumps, twists and cheers at the end of a recent after-school practice.

The fading sunlight illuminates the bustling gym lobby as the varsity pep squad huddles near a massive trophy case built within the brick walls of the athletic complex at Indianapolis' Lawrence North High School.

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