Another young Buckeye set to go in Round 1

June 25, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — John Wooden won 10 NCAA championships at UCLA by stockpiling incredible talent and developing it into a cohesive unit.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta has never won a national title. Yet in his dreams he ponders what it was like for the Wizard of Westwood, back in the days before players could leave school early for the pros.

“I’ve often said this to my wife: Can you imagine what John Wooden felt like every night when he went to bed?” Matta said with a laugh.

Had all of Matta’s recruits stayed with the Buckeyes instead of using the NBA’s “one and done” rule that allows players to jump to the pros after a single college season, he might have a UCLA-sized juggernaut of his own.

“I’d have a little smile on my face,” Matta said.

Over the last two NBA drafts, no fewer than four Ohio State players have spent one year on campus before being taken in the first round. B.J. Mullens, the third 7-footer of the bunch, is expected to make it five in three years in tonight’s draft.

Matta hates the rule but shrugs. It’s not his choice.

But the list of those opposing it is growing. The National Association of Basketball Coaches, which represents college coaches, is lobbying the NBA and its players association to change the rule when its next contract takes effect in 2011.

Even Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy blistered the rule before Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

“I don’t like the one-and-done. I really don’t understand how we get away with that as a league, that we tell a guy out of high school he can’t come and play in our league,” said Van Gundy. “And what I really don’t like is the way our system is set up. Kids should be going to college if at least part of what they want to do is get an education.”

Matta’s teams have gone 35-4, 24-13 and 22-11 the last three years. Next year’s club will be built around Evan Turner, a junior who was an honorable mention All-American last season while averaging 17.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4 assists a game.

But what Matta sees when he drifts off to sleep is a tall and talented lineup of veterans that includes 7-0 Greg Oden (No. 1, Portland, 2007) at center, Mike Conley Jr. (No. 4, Memphis, 2007) running the point, 7-0 Kosta Koufos (No. 23, Utah, 2008) at power forward, Daequan Cook (No. 21, Philadelphia, 2007, then traded to Miami) at shooting guard and Turner at small forward.

Mullens, a raw talent who averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds last year for his hometown Buckeyes, would come off the bench.

The scary part is that all six of those standouts could have played for the Buckeyes last year — and none would have been a senior.

Such a dream lineup haunts and taunts Matta.

“I do it every day, who we’d be starting next year,” he said.

The NABC favors something similar to how Major League Baseball approaches its draft. Elite players can be drafted right out of high school, but if they elect to go to college they are not eligible for the draft again until after their junior year.

“That gives him at least three years in college. It’s a realistic goal to earn your degree,” said NABC spokesman Rick Leddy. “Whereas if you come out in, really, your second semester of college, it doesn’t seem like a very realistic goal that that person is going to get their college degree. There’s no doubt that there are some players who are ready to come out right away out of high school. But there are a lot of others who go that route and then quickly find out it’s not what they thought it was.”