Dear Greg Oden
Rick Reilly
April 02, 2007
GOT TO KNOW you a bit over four days last week in San Antonio as you helped lead Ohio State into the Final Four. Can't remember meeting a nicer, more humble, funnier millionaire-to-be. You are 19, look 39 and act 29. You seem to love college, learning and your friends. You eat with the team managers just so you can talk about accounting. You've already signed up for biology, history and calculus for next quarter when you could've taken Intro to Lunch. That tells me you're still thinking about staying in school and stiff-arming the NBA for a while. It's the Clash in your head: Should I Stay or Should I Go? I've seen guys wrestle with this choice for years, so let me make it easy for you. When in doubt, make two lists and compare:
—The nets get to cut you down
—If you get drafted by Portland, you'll see your teammates in orange jumpsuits
—Why change now?