Mike Conley, Daequan Cook and Greg Oden are three of the recruits who will enter OSU in 2006. AP
	OHIO STATE'S CLASS OF 2006 Ps. Name Ht. Wt. HS (City) Rk. C Greg Oden 7-0 235 Lawrence North (Indianapolis) 1* SG Daequan Cook 6-5 210 Dunbar (Dayton, Ohio) 8 SF David Lighty 6-6 205 Villa Angela St. Joe's (Cleveland) 21 PG Mike Conley Jr. 6-1 165 Lawrence North (Indianapolis) 24 * National player rank, according to Scout.com
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HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Thad Matta, while on his way to the opening games of the Reebok ABCD camp at Fairleigh Dickinson University Wednesday, turned to assistant John Groce, laughed and said, "It's amazing what a difference a year makes."

It was the morning of July 7, 2004 -- exactly 365 days ago -- that then Xavier head coach Matta was in Columbus, meeting with OSU athletic director Andy Geiger about the Buckeyes' basketball vacancy. By 6:30 p.m., a deal was done: After consulting with his wife and the Musketeers staff, Matta accepted the job.

The next day, Matta and Groce (who followed him from Xavier to OSU) took a flight to the East Coast and arrived at the '04 ABCD camp in street clothes -- not the customary school-logo attire -- to observe recruits, because as Matta recalled, "we didn't even have any Ohio State gear at the time."

They were anonymous suitors in a gym full of coaches vying for the nation's top prep prospects. Both had, on the heels of an Elite Eight run with the Muskies, given up a successful, private-school squad in the basketball-mad Queen City for a sub-.500, state-U team in football-crazy Columbus -- not to mention a program facing the possibility of heavy NCAA sanctions following the firing of Jim O'Brien, who admitted to paying a recruit $6,700. Matta and Groce traded job security for a new challenge. Their bigger paychecks came with increased pressure to revitalize a once-great -- now scandal-marred -- OSU program.

Return to the present day, and Matta and Groce sit side-by-side in the stands at the '05 ABCD, sporting Buckeyes shirts and gazing happily down at the court, where the fruits of their first-year recruiting efforts are dominating on the camp's Sonics squad. No. 1-overall player (according to Scout.com) Greg Oden, a 7-foot center; No. 8-ranked Daequan Cook, a 6-5 shooting guard; and No. 24-ranked Mike Conley Jr., a 6-1 point guard -- the three golden apples of the Class of 2006 -- have all verbally committed to the Buckeyes. A fourth, No. 21-ranked David Lighty, a 6-5 swingman, is also on board, but is sitting out the camp to rehab a knee injury.

Matta returned respect to OSU during the '04-05 regular season, leading the team to a 20-12 record despite a school-imposed ban on postseason play as a result of the O'Brien violations, and handed Illinois its lone regular-season loss. Matta's recruiting, however, is what has put Buckeye hoops back on the national map. By landing Oden -- who, before the NBA's new age-limit rule was instituted, was expected to be the No. 1 pick in the '06 draft -- and his teammate Conley on June 29, OSU left other recruiting classes in the dust.

"It's amazing how Matta was able to do this -- OSU didn't have any big-name guys, and it all changed pretty quick," said Jeff Goodman, a national recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "There is little chance that OSU won't be No. 1 [in the '06 class rankings]."

Although he is widely believed to be a one-year rental for Matta and the Buckeyes on his way to the NBA, Oden is the crown jewel of OSU's '06 recruiting class, which is being compared to Michigan's famous haul in 1991 -- Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Oden, who resembles a young Bill Russell, was dunking at will on opponents in ABCD's morning session Wednesday -- he shot 12-of-15 from the field in two games. "Certainly," said Goodman, the talent OSU has compiled "would compare with the Fab Five."