CHICAGO -- Bradley Pagnucci can go to college now.
Or pay for a family vacation.
To Europe.
That's what the kid's souvenir Big Ten Tournament T-shirt is suddenly worth in Greg Oden bucks. Maybe not today, but someday soon.
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| Greg Oden's stat line vs. Purdue: Oh, just 17 points, 19 boards and four blocks. (US Presswire) |
The talk of the fifth grade Monday, if nothing else. Never mind that mom was wearing a Wisconsin sweatshirt and the Badgers were taking the floor in the second Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
"We kind of came to see him," said mom, the way Rosie says doughnuts.
So did everyone else at the House That Jordan Built. Different game, different player, but it's clear that Oden is approaching some fraction of M.J.'s icon status before his 19th birthday.
He doesn't have his own shoe yet, but Ohio State's teenage 7-foot center has owned every eye in the house this weekend.
Sunday trumped everything else, a multimedia show that will live on beyond the highlight shows.
He's arrived, America. Get the T-shirt. Little Bradley already has his.
"That was an 11," teammate Mike Conley Jr. said of Oden's jam with 2:40 left against Purdue that defined the season for the big guy. "I think he was kind of in the moment right there."
In one swooping motion, Oden flushed the ball, the blind officials, the annoying media and the multitude of hacking defenders. Then to signal his liberation, he spread his massive wings to the ceiling, and whooped to no one -- and everyone.
When the United Center scoreboard replayed the moment, grown-ass adults cringed. It was athletically magnificent. It also scared the spit out of you.
"I had no idea what I was doing," said Oden, shrinking back into wallflower teenager mode. "I was out of my body. It was a good thing, good energy. I like to play with a straight face so teams don't know how you're feeling. Sometimes you just erupt."
At the same time giving the NCAA, NBA and CAA (Creative Artists Agency) a clue of what's in store.
For one, it's going to be a great March, folks. In the 15 hours preceding Oden's autograph of Bradley's shirt, the two best players in the country, both freshmen, adrenalized the nation.
Late Friday, Texas freshman Kevin Durant scored 24 in the second half to help beat Baylor -- after going 1-for-13 in the first half.
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Oden followed Saturday with 17 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks in a 63-52 win vs. Purdue. That was the most rebounds Ohio State or the Big Ten Tournament had ever seen.
No wonder Durant wants to text message Oden. They can talk Lamborghinis vs. Bentleys.
"I'd say congratulations, because he's doing his thing, probably going to be the Player of the Year in college basketball," Oden said of Durant.
It's not that easy. The comparison has boggled hoop dreamers' minds all season. Durant is shorter by 3 inches. He can play the point, post and wing. Oden is a pure post who can alter 12 shots a game just by raising his arms.
"It's a presence," Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Oden. "It's more than his stats. It's more than his actual game. He's just affecting everything at all times. You can't really put a value on that."
"I don't know Greg Oden," Texas coach Rick Barnes said last week. "I know Kevin Durant, and I know he hasn't even gotten started yet."
Here's the easiest way to settle the discussion: Durant is the National Player of the Year. Oden is this year's No. 1 NBA Draft choice.
Except it's not that easy, either. They're still both achingly young kids. Oden looked up prior to a teammate's free throw Sunday when someone in the stands yelled his name.
Purdue post Carl Landry, giving up 5 inches and 35 pounds, dared tease Oden about it.
"He said, 'Don't point,'" Oden said. "I said, 'I'm not like that.'"
It's not insane, then, to suggest that both might be back next season. It's not foolish to say they might need maturity before money.
Both genuinely love the college life. The families of each aren't in immediate need of multi-million dollar life changes.
Durant is carrying a 12-credit course load for the second consecutive semester. When he got a C last semester in a minority studies class, his mother squawked.
"There's a chance he would come back to Texas next year," Durant's father, Wayne Pratt, told the Dallas Morning News. "Kevin is so young. There's not a rush for him to go to the NBA. Right now we're not even talking about that. We're talking about winning the Big 12, and Kevin continuing to progress academically."
"It's a total thing -- mentally, physically, all those things have to be intact before a decision can be made. My wife and I have pretty good jobs. There's no rush for him to go to the NBA."
Oden isn't even Oden yet. He is just getting comfortable shooting with his right hand after surgery to repair torn ligaments in that shooting wrist. A first-half, right-handed sky hook showed both a hint of Kareem and held a promise for the future.
"You're starting to see the full 100 percent Greg Oden," teammate Jamar Butler said. "He's coming back, showing what kind of player he is."
Good for us. This one-and-done stuff is getting tedious for everyone. The fact Ohio State is wearing new uniforms bearing LeBron James' logo is shameful to the whole process.
Anything for another Nike buck. James never went to college, but Buckeyes coach Thad Matta cheerfully said, "He's a Buckeye."
No, Greg Oden is a Buckeye, even if it took David Stern's NBA legislation to do it. If all of it is weighing on Oden, think how he would be doing in the NBA at this point?
Former one-and-done freshman sensation Carmelo Anthony has maturity issues. He's in his fourth season.
The kid in Oden came out again Sunday as he walked to the interview room. He lollygagged down a hallway at a slow pace. He was paying too much attention to a TV on the wall, finally hiding -- becoming a post behind a post -- as the locker room, bulging with media, came into view.
The biggest, baddest college center on the planet almost had to be herded to his fate by a couple of Big Ten officials.
At that moment, he was more Bradley with the T-shirt than Greg with the unlimited future.
Flodog1 
