Ohio State’s vaunted recruiting class of incoming high school basketball talent is 1-0.
OSU’s four signees for 2006 – Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and David Lighty – teamed to lead the West all-stars to a 118-102 victory over the East in Sunday’s Roundball Classic before 10,384 at Chicago’s United Center.
Oden, a 7-0 center and the national player of the year for the second year in a row, and Cook shared game MVP honors on the East side.
Oden tallied 21 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots in 26 minutes of work, connecting on 10 of his 12 shots from the floor.
Cook, a 6-5 guard, added 18 points, three assists and two blocked shots. He was 7 of 13 from the floor, including 2 of 5 on three-pointers.
Conley, a 6-0 point guard, nearly tallied a triple-double with seven points, eight rebounds and 13 assists in 27 minutes of work.
Lighty, a 6-5 wing, added 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was 6 of 10 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from behind the three-point arc.
West coach Mike Conley Sr. put the four OSU signees in the starting lineup along with uncommitted forward Lance Thomas of Scotch Plains, N.J. The 6-8 Thomas had 13 points and five rebounds.
Bryan Davis (Texas A&M signee) had 15 points, Patrick Beverley (uncommitted) scored 13 and Damion Jones (Oklahoma) had 10 for the West.
The West side held a 62-50 halftime lead. But the East rallied and trimmed the gap to 87-85 after three quarters. The West then pulled away by outscoring the East 31-17 in the final period.
Derrick Caracter (Louisville) had 16 points and Alex Stephenson (North Carolina) had 15 points and six rebounds to earn MVP honors for the East. Earl Clark (Louisville) scored 15 and Curtis Kelly (UConn) added 14 for the East.
CSTV will show the Roundball Classic on tape delay several times, beginning with next Sunday at 8 p.m. Prior to that game, CSTV will show Oden, Cook and Conley in action at the 2005 ABCD Camp all-star game at 6:30 p.m.