By: Greg Simms (SpringfieldNewsSun.com) —
Already it seems so long ago. Ohio State’s men’s basketball team was at the top of the charts mainly because of center Greg Oden and guard Mike Conley of Indianapolis and Daequan Cook, a mutli-talented 6-foot-5 guard from Dunbar High School.

The Buckeyes sailed through the regular-season schedule and into the NCAA finals where they lost to Florida. Three more years of them and who knows to what heights Buckeye basketball might have risen.

But the super trio was on the one-year plan. The NCAA had recently ruled that incoming Division I freshmen had to stay in school for at least one season. So after filling that requirement, the three talents went buy drugs without a prescription straight to the pros, in style. Oden was the first pick of the 2007 draft, going to the Portland Trail Blazers. Conley went fourth to the Memphis Grizzlies and Cook 21st, to the Philadelphia 76ers who traded his rights to the Miami Heat.

However, as B.B. King might say, “Fellas, I think you made your moves too soon.” All three are still in the NBA, Oden and Cook have struggled and Conley won’t be making any All-Star teams soon. Oden has actually been an embarrassment after missing his rookie year to injury and this season looking unprepared to play in the pros. He is averaging 7.6 points per game and 7.9 rebounds.

Cook is doing OK financially, having just signed a $1.3 million contract for next season. But as a rookie first-round pick, the perimeter shooter had to do a brief stint in the Development League. Drafted as a scorer, he is averaging 8.1 points per game. Conley is averaging 7.9 points and 3.6 assists, which is OK as a second-year pro.

All should be much better and they would have been had they stayed at Ohio State for at least one more season, where they would have learned and matured both physically and mentally.

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