The humble Greg Oden led USA White to the gold medal at last week's International Sports Invitational in San Diego. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
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During an era when young hoopsters are taught big talent should come with a bigger ego, Greg Oden is so effusively humble it's unnerving. A 6-foot-11 prodigy from Indianapolis who just completed his junior year of high school, Oden was one of 30 prepsters convened in San Diego last week for the International Sports Invitational sponsored by USA Basketball. Oden wasn't the best all-around American at the event (that was 6-4 guard O.J. Mayo, a rising junior from Ohio), but Oden led the tournament in dropped jaws and turned heads while pacing his USA White team to the gold medal. Many of those heads belonged to NBA scouts, who were numerous in San Diego during a time of year when college coaches aren't permitted to watch high schoolers play.

Oden's game isn't complicated. He parks himself near the rim, works to get into good position and converts the vast majority of his shots on dunks and layups -- making 32 of 43 attempts in five games. He says he's been working on his shooting, but he's more inclined to pass to an open teammate than loft a 10-footer. "I've seen Oden play several times now, and he's taken maybe one or two hook shots total," one NBA birddog told me. "He'll have to develop some range, but I love his patience." That patience extends to the defensive end, where Oden is remarkably adept at waiting until the last moment to block a shot and it showed as he averaged three blocks per game on the week.

There is no doubting this: If Oden is in next year's NBA Draft, he will be the first player selected. Yet, Oden still says -- still insists -- he will play in college. He even has a short list of schools (Indiana, Wake Forest, Michigan State and Ohio State) he is considering and will visit in the fall. "When I go to college, I want to study accounting," he told me.

"When?" I replied. "There's no doubt?"

"I will go to college."

It would be great for college basketball if Oden went to school, even if for only one year. But his talent is so prodigious it's hard to contemplate. Then again, if anyone with that kind of ability will do it, it's Oden. He's so modest, he actually comes across as borderline dishonest.

To wit, here's an exchange I had with him Thursday night after he posted 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in a 103-83 win over the USA Red team:

Me: "You seem to play with more confidence than you did last summer. Do you feel more confident?"
Greg: "You always feel confident when you have great players around you. For me, just being on this team is a confidence booster. If I mess up, I know my teammates have got me."

Me: "But individually, do you feel more confident?"
Greg: "I don't know. My teammates help me out so much. It's all them."

Me: "Are you the best player here?"
Greg: "No. Far from it."

Me: "Come on."
Greg: "No, really. There are a lot of good players here. My whole team is better than me."

Me: "I have a hard time believing you really think that."
Greg: "Look at it this way. If a guy can dribble, I say he's better than me. I can't dribble that well. If a guy can shoot, I think he's better than me because I'm not a good shooter. I'm just a big body, so until I can do those things, I won't be the best player."

Me: "Don't all great players have to believe they're the best player on the court?"
Greg: "All great players think different. A great player has his own mindset of what he wants to do."

For the record, Oden says he opposes an age minimum for the NBA, but he voices that stance not for himself but for other high school players who want to pursue the pros. The 2006 draft might seem far away for him, but its specter will hang over Oden for an entire year. That will be especially true during the annual frenzy of the July evaluation period, when Oden will play in the Reebok ABCD Camp before hitting the trail to compete in tournaments with his Spiece Indy Heat team.

No doubt Oden will continue to dominate the competition this summer, and wherever he goes he'll be asked the college-or-pro question a zillion times in a jillion different ways. His answer, I'm sure, will always be the same. He will go to college. It's a nice response, but it's not at all convincing.