On a day when all Buckeye fans are thinking about football, we bring you some basketball news. Greg Oden, who led Ohio State to a national championship appearance in 2006 and former No. 1 NBA draft pick, has accepted a position on the Buckeye basketball coaching staff.
Oden will come on in the capacity of a graduate assistant, his second stint with the OSU basketball coaching ranks. The seven-footer helped Thad Matta and Chris Holtmann from 2016-2019 as a student assistant while working on completing his undergraduate degree.
Oden will be much more involved this go around and has plenty of basketball experience to help some of the young post players on Holtmans’s squad. It’s an opportunity Oden seems excited to be a part of.
“I’m thankful, honestly, for coach Holt and his staff who have welcomed me in and given me this opportunity because that’s literally what I want to do is get into coaching,” Oden said. “One of the toughest things to do is get your foot in the door, so for them to give me this opportunity while I’m able to actually get a Master’s degree in sports coaching from The Ohio State University, which I would love, is something that’s just amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’m just so thankful and ready to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Former Ohio State center Greg Oden is returning to the coaching staff as a graduate assistant, according to a report by @AdamJardy.https://t.co/xYRoHrNZ9E pic.twitter.com/kdBdxFOw65
— Buckeye Sports Bulletin (@Buckeye_Sports) September 1, 2021
After being drafted by the Portland Trailblazers with the No. 1 overall pick in 2006, Oden’s body just wouldn’t cooperate. Injuries limited the big man to only 105 games over seven seasons. Fortunately, coaching won’t take quite a toll on the body and maybe this will be an avenue that allows Oden to stay in the game.
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