ORU?s Green doesn?t feel overlooked - DOK (12-28-05)

[ORUTerry]

ORU?s Green doesn?t feel overlooked

By Justin Harper

The Oklahoman

NORMAN - Caleb Green was never really on Oklahoma?s radar. When he was available, there was no interest from the Sooners. And by the time there might have been, it was too late.

Green, Oral Roberts? All-American power forward, didn?t mind, though. Growing up in Tulsa, his favorite team was neither OU, Oklahoma State nor Tulsa.

?I always wanted to play at Kansas,? said the reigning Mid-Continent Conference player of the year. ?I always knew about OU, OSU and TU and I liked watching them. But I never really thought about playing there.?

Green will play at OU tonight - just not for OU. The Golden Eagles (5-5) meet up with the 14th-ranked Sooners (6-2) at 7 p.m. inside Lloyd Noble Center.

Though he wasn?t recruited by OU, Green doesn?t feel like he was snubbed.

?It?s not personal, I know how it goes,? said the 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior. ?I don?t take it as a slight on me. I look at it like I?m at a program where I fit the system perfectly. I wouldn?t have wanted it to go any other way.?

Green was a 6-6, 190-pounder as a senior for Tulsa Memorial - undersized for post play at a basketball power. But Oral Roberts? lifeblood is taking a chance on the players who slip through the cracks. And the Golden Eagles didn?t waste any time offering a scholarship in Green?s junior season. As an early signee, by the time Green?s game began to flourish as a senior other schools had missed their shot.

?Caleb Green is a great player,? said OU coach Kelvin Sampson. ?He?s a beast around the basket. He?s such a hard matchup.?

A first-team Mid-Con selection in each of his first two seasons, Green is a double-double machine. He?s averaging 19.4 points per game this season and 18.5 for his career. His career rebounding average is 9.5 per game. He has 36 career double-doubles and five this season.

?I think that Caleb could play for any team in America,? said Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton. ?Obviously he wouldn?t have the impact he does on our team, but he could play at any of the schools in the big conferences.? Timing, mostly, kept that from happening.

?I didn?t really break out of my shell and come into my game until the middle of my junior season,? Green said. ?By then it was kind of late in the process.?

Green will match up with OU?s best player, forward Taj Gray. Gray leads the Sooners in points (16. and rebounds (7.. While Green carries no grudge against big-names schools which didn?t recruit him, he definitely enjoys the challenge of playing such teams.

?I?m at a small school, so it?s hard to get (national) recognition,? Green said. ?But games like this help. But I just want to put this program on the national level. I?m not worried about myself.?

As for how Green turned out, Sampson considers the fact that Green wasn?t heavily recruited as just part of the recruiting game.

?Caleb Green is a great recruiting story,? Sampson said. ?Recruiting is timing and luck. Sometimes schools take a gamble on a kid. ORU hit the jackpot.?

Actually, says Sutton, the timing of signing Green early was the luckiest part.

?We were fortunate to sign him then,? Sutton said. ?He went on to have a sensational senior year and won a state championship. If we hadn?t already signed him, we might not have been able to get him after his senior season.?