Greg Oden vs. Kevin Durant: Tale of the Tape

You've probably heard and read enough about Greg Oden and Kevin Durant to the point where the draft can't come soon enough. We agree. So we won't waste your time here with things like points, rebounds, steals and blocked shots, but we'd like to try to enlighten you on why those numbers are just a small part of what these young men, expected to go 1-2 in Thursday night's NBA draft, are about and why they are so special.

The Courant checked in with Texas coach Rick Barnes and Ohio State associate head Coach John Groce last week to tell us something we may not know about Oden and Durant and what the NBA can expect. Something that impressed them - or not - around the time their college careers began. The coaches obliged, and it was confirmed: Oden and Durant are special. There are no two ways about it.

The NBA will love them, commissioner David Stern in particular, because they are high-character guys. They lived up to the hype that has been following them since high school, and now the greatest basketball league in the world is set to welcome them and the excitement they'll bring.

But everything you've been hearing - and reading - about these guys being once-in-a-lifetime players? It could be true. If you ask their coaches, there's no doubt it's true.