Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Greg Oden will make his Buckeye debut today against Valparaiso in the soon to be sold out Value City Arena. Oden had wrist surgery back on June 16. Since then, Matta's kept his conditioning up and the OSU staff has spent months drilling Oden to develop his left-hand ball skills. While it may not be evident today due to Oden maybe playing only 10-15 minutes, this time off may serve his career well. The time without Oden also seems to have a been a good thing for the other young guys on the team. Having the big man back in the middle is the missing piece to our title run. Sit back and enjoy. It's about to get interesting in Columbus.
Update: Listening to Ron Stokes on 1460, he mentioned that Oden will wear a brace and is likely to shoot any free throws with his left hand. I'm not sure what to make of that, if anything. I guess he just doesn't have the strength or maybe the brace is too bulky. We might have to wait a week or so to see his first two-handed power slam and subsequent "O-Face", but I can't wait until tip-off.
