Oden Voted Nation’s Top Big Man, Defender – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 1, 2007
ATLANTA – Ohio State’s Greg Oden earned a pair of awards Sunday on the off day before the Buckeyes take on Florida for the 2007 National Championship in men’s basketball. Ohio State defeated Georgetown Saturday in the national semifinals to earn its first trip to the national title game since 1962.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches selected Oden as the nation’s defensive player of the year in 2007 as well as the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year. The awards were presented at the Sidney J. Marcus Auditorium during the NABC Awards Show. The nation’s college basketball coaches are taking part in their 80th annual convention this weekend at the Final Four.
Oden leads the Buckeyes with 15.4 points a game, 9.5 rebounds a game and a freshman record 101 blocks. The 7-foot center from Indianapolis also leads the Buckeyes with a .613 shooting percentage from the field (179-292) in 31 games. He needs six rebounds to reach 300 for the season and is 24 points shy of 500 points on the year. Only 23 Buckeyes have recorded 500 points in a season as a Buckeye. The last was Terence Dials in 2004-05 (509).
Ohio State (35-3) takes on Florida (34-5) at 9:21 p.m. Monday at the Georgia Dome for the national title.
