Gregory Wayne Oden Jr.

Born January 22, 1988, in Buffalo, New York is an American NBA player for the Portland Trail Blazers and a member of the United States men's national basketball team. Oden was named the PARADE's High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year two years in a row, in 2005 and 2006.

In 2006-07, Oden played basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes for only one season, during which the team were the Big Ten Champions and the tournament runner-up in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

On June 28, 2007, Oden was selected first overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. NBA analyst Steve Kerr has described him as a "once-in-a-decade player.

Oden lived in Buffalo, New York until he was nine years old and then moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, attending Fuqua Elementary School and playing basketball in the seventh grade at Sarah Scott Junior High School. He then moved to Indianapolis in the eighth grade.

In the 2005-06 season, Oden, a 7'0" 257 lb senior, led Lawrence North High School to an undefeated record, a third straight Class 4A Indiana state championship and the first ever player to finish for an Indiana school in USA Today's Super 25 rankings.^{[citation needed]} For the season, the center scored 22.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 74 percent from the field. Oden dominated in the state championship game against Muncie Central, scoring a game-high 27 points and grabbing 26 rebounds. Lawrence North won its last three state championship games by a combined 56 points and its average margin of victory during the regular season was 41 points.

Oden was named the 2006 Indiana Mr. Basketball. He was also on the McDonald's All-American Team and played in the All-American game. Oden led them to three straight state titles and 45 consecutive wins under coach Jack Keefer. Oden was named PARADE's High School Co-Player of the Year 2005 (along with Monta Ellis) and 2005 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, becoming the first junior since LeBron James to be named such.