Mike DeCourcy

He walked onto the court at Value City Arena with 16:01 left in the first half. It was 4:12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Ohio State held only a 5-4 lead over Valparaiso. Outside the gym, it was a bright, sunny day in Columbus, but chilly enough to remind you it was December.

You'll have to remember all of this if you want to one day claim to have been there for the start of Greg Oden's college basketball career.

Oh, and you'll need the numbers: 14 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks in 23 minutes of playing time during a breezy Buckeyes victory. It wasn't everything Ohio State fans — college basketball fans, really — had waited to see. But it was plenty.

With Ohio State meandering through a lifeless first few minutes, coach Thad Matta pointed to some subs, and forward Matt Terwilliger and guard Daequan Cook, sitting directly next to Oden, rose from their seats. It was quite a tease, and the crowd collectively flinched. Matta wanted one more guy, though. Oden pointed at his own chest — as if to confirm, "Me?" — and at last removed the towel that had been wrapped around his neck through every Buckeyes game.

"I was kind of pysched until I took off my shirt and it got stuck on my cast," Oden said. "I felt kind of retarded, then."

A 7-1, 280 pound center, Oden had been named national high school player of the year by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club and Gatorade, and Scout.com and Rivals.com listed him as the No. 1 player in the recruiting class of 2006. Had the NBA not introduced an age limit for its player draft last year, Oden would have been the first player selected. He had been unable to play in OSU's November games because he was recovering from surgery. Thus his debut became one of this college basketball season's most anticipated events.

Toward the end of his senior season at Lawrence North High in Indianapolis, where he led the team to three state championships, Oden injured his right wrist. He was unaware of the severity, though, until much later in the spring. The wrist was surgically repaired in mid-June.

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His physicians and Ohio State agreed on a conservative public timetable, indicating he might not return to competition until Jan. 1. All along, though, program insiders knew Oden could return sooner if his rehabilitation went according to schedule. Friday, his physician checked an X-ray to examine the extent of healing and put him through a strength test. Oden met the standard in both areas, and he got word while shopping Friday night at Target that he was cleared to play against Valpo. He'd been working in practice for several weeks to get ready — and on his conditioning while his wrist was out of commission — so it was no great burden for him to play 23 minutes.