Greg Oden reunites with Thad Matta on Butler’s staff
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Former No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Greg Oden is getting back in the game.
On Tuesday, News 8 confirmed Oden will join Thad Matta’s basketball staff at Butler University in a role that will likely center on recruiting. The official position is expected to be confirmed later this offseason.
Oden spent this past season on Chris Holtmann’s coaching staff at Ohio State University as a graduate assistant. From 2017-2019, he assisted Holtmann’s staff as a student manager while back on campus, completing his undergraduate degree.
For Oden, this is a special reunion with Thad Matta. Matta, then the head coach for Ohio State, recruited Oden out of Lawrence North High School in 2007 as the No. 1 recruit in America.
In his one season on campus in Columbus, Oden and former Lawrence North teammate Mike Conley Jr. led the Buckeyes to the NCAA National Championship Game versus. Florida.
Indianapolis has always remained home for Oden, and at 34 years old, he is now back at the heart of the college basketball scene in the Circle City.
News 8 has also learned that Ohio State’s all-time three-point leader, John Diebler, is also joining Matta’s basketball staff at Butler. Diebler just finished a decade-long professional basketball career overseas, most recently in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.