On June 29, 2005 the 7-foot (2.13 m) Oden and Lawrence North teammate as well as best friend Mike Conley verbally announced that they would be attending Ohio State University starting with the 2006-2007 season. Many thought that Oden would have declared himself eligible for the 2006 NBA Draft, and likely would have been the first player selected, but the NBA instituted new rules starting with the 2006 draft that make U.S. players ineligible for the draft until at least one year after high school graduation. However, Oden repeatedly stated that he would not forgo college for the NBA.
--Wikipedia
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