Greg Oden

Greg Oden on Mentoring

Greg Oden, a member of Oregon Mentors, would be extremely delighted to learn about the SMART Program, which is financed by his team the Portland Trail Blazers along with Wells Fargo.  Team ODEN was set up to assist Oregon Mentors bring 40,000 youngsters together with their adult mentors. And indeed, it is known by his fans, that apart from being an incredibly talented professional basketball player, Greg Oden is definitely someone who supports any kind of much needed mentoring program.  When Oden Mentors was originally set up, it was to reach out to over 100,000 of Oregon’s youth in need of a mentor.

Greg Oden and SMART

SMART is the acronym for Start Making a Reader Today which is a program designed to help young readers.  The program finds lots of volunteers who are willing to read to kids who are a little behind in this area to try and give them confidence in their reading ability.  So far SMART has received $20,000 in donations from Wells Fargo and Oden’s team, the Portland Trail Blazers.  This money will go to giving 66 children a one-on-one literacy support, once a week, throughout the academic year.  As well, it will provide 14 new books for each of the students in need to take home and keep.  Such an important organization, doing all this really proactive work for children, is exactly the kind of venture basketball player Greg Oden can take much pride in.

Mike Conley, Sr. – Greg Oden’s Former Coach

Born Michael Alex Conley, Sr., this former American track & field athlete was once Greg Oden’s high school coach.  He must have done a pretty good job, since Oden ended up playing professional basketball for the Portland Trail Blazers.  Well, Conley has quite a history himself.  He was a professional competitor in the triple and long jump races, and even earned a gold and silver Olympic medal and world champion in the triple jump.

Today, he serves as President of World Sport Chicago which is involved in sport programs and events for Chicago youth.  He was also the executive director of the High Performance program of the US Track and Field.  He represented his son, along with his son’s teammates Greg Oden and Daequan Cook when they entered the league.  As well, Oden even declared Conley as his agent for the NBA draft officially by signing with him in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Even today, Greg Oden talks about Mike Conley Sr. in high regard, fondly recalling the days he coached him in the past.  Now he benefits from him as a mentor.  To this day, he continues to count on his guidance, which is why it is good he serves as his agent.