Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden’s career has been ravaged by injury and, according to him, his professional playing days are over.
Oden is now back at Ohio State as a student and helping out on Thad Matta’s staff, but will not attempt to play again, according to Dana Hunsinger Benbow of IndyStar:
Oden is enrolled this semester at Ohio State, a 28-year-old sophomore majoring in sports industry. Asked whether he’d play basketball again, he said, “I wish. It’s over.” Instead, he is back with the Buckeyes as a student coach, helping out the players and Matta any way he can.
“I wouldn’t say I regret anything,” Oden told IndyStar Thursday in a phone interview. “I would say I just wish I did things better.”
Because if things had been done better, if luck had been on his side, if injuries hadn’t happened, he might not be restarting his life at the same place the dreams started.
“I’m like, 10 years later, I’m back in line,” Oden said. “I definitely feel like an old man.”
Oden had workouts with the Hornets and Mavericks last summer before playing in China.
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