Portland, with the first overall pick, selected Oden with a little more than two minutes remaining of the five-minutes allotted to make its selection. He is the first Buckeye selected with the opening pick. Conley went to the Memphis Grizzlies with the No. 4 pick and Cook was selected by Philadelphia with the 21st pick of the opening round.

Thad Matta, head coach of the Buckeyes, said Ohio State University and the men’s basketball program will be proud of all the drafted players for a long time to come.

“I am honored to have had the opportunity to coach each of these fine young men,” Matta said. “All of them were able to develop as people and players by wearing the scarlet and gray. They have had a tremendous impact on the Buckeye basketball program and I am certain they will continue to be great ambassadors for our team and The Ohio State University.”

Oden is the first Big Ten player selected with the first pick of the annual draft since Glenn Robinson of Purdue in 1994. Since 1957, Big Ten student-athletes have gone No. 1 nine times.

The last time Ohio State had three players selected in the same draft was in 1981 when Herb Williams was taken by the Indiana Pacers with the 14th pick of the opening round, Jim Smith landed with the Los Angeles Clippers in the third round and Carter Scott went to the Golden State Warriors in the sixth round.

Three Buckeyes also were taken in the 1962 draft after the Buckeyes made their third-consecutive trip to the NCAA national championship game. John Havlicek was taken with the No. 9 pick of the first round by the Boston Celtics. Jerry Lucas, with the No. 6 pick, was claimed as a territorial draft choice by the Cincinnati Royals and Mel Nowell was taken by the Chicago Zephyrs in the 12th round. The 1962 draft also was the last time Ohio State had two players selected in the opening round.

Since 1947, 44 Ohio State basketball players have been drafted by NBA teams, including 19 first round selections. Jim Jackson (1990-92) was the last Buckeye to be selected in Round One. He was taken with the No. 4 pick in 1992 by the Atlanta Hawks.

Ken Johnson (1998-01) was the last Buckeye drafted when he went in the Second Round to Miami in 2001.

Oden, Conley and Cook join Michael Redd, now in his eighth year with the Milwaukee Bucks, as former Buckeyes currently active in the NBA.

The last school to have three players selected in the first round in the same year was North Carolina in 2005. Marvin Williams (No. 2), Raymond Felton (No. 5), Sean May (No. 13) and Rashad McCants (No. 14) all were first round selections that season.

Oden, an Indianapolis native, topped Ohio State in scoring (15.7 ppg.), rebounding (9.6 ppg.) and blocks (105) in leading the Buckeyes to a 35-4 overall record and a 15-1 mark in Big Ten Conference regular-season games. Ohio State was both the league’s regular-season and postseason tournament champions in 2006-07.

Oden, the first college freshman selected No. 1 overall, earned numerous awards during his freshman campaign. He was the first Buckeye freshman to be named an Associated Press first team All-American. He also was a first team All-Big Ten honoree, the league’s defensive player of the year and the conference’s freshman of the year.

Conley, also from Indianapolis, led the Big Ten in both assists (238) and steals (87) while setting Ohio State single season records in both categories. He also paced the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at +2.8. He was a first team All-Big Ten (media) honoree and was named the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA South Region during Ohio State’s run to the title game.

Cook, from Dayton, Ohio, averaged 9.8 points a game as the first player off Matta’s bench. He set an Ohio State freshman record by making 54 3-pointers during his rookie season. He made a team-leading 42 percent of his 3-point attempts (54-130) and was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.

Ohio State made its 20th appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2006-07 after winning both an outright Big Ten regular season title and the annual postseason league tournament. The championships propelled the Buckeyes the NCAA title game and a school-record 35 victories. Matta, the league’s coach of the year for the second-consecutive season, orchestrated his seventh-consecutive 20-win campaign (35-4) while leading the Buckeyes to a 15-1 record in league play.

Ohio State defeated Central Connecticut and Xavier in the opening two rounds in the NCAA tournament games in Lexington, Ky., as a No. 1 seed in the South Regional. The Buckeyes then defeated Tennessee and Memphis for the South Regional Championship in San Antonio. The title allowed the Buckeyes to advance to Atlanta for the program’s ninth Final Four appearance. A win over Georgetown set up the title game against Florida, an 84-75 win for the Gators.

Ohio State’s NBA First Round Draft History

2006-07 Honors and Awards
Greg Oden (Lawrence North High School)