A Pair of Big Men, Still on Campus

ATLANTA, April 1 -- In last year's national championship game, Florida's Joakim Noah thumped his chest, yelled to the crowd and blew a kiss at a cheerleader. The always stoic Greg Oden of Ohio State does not expect to display that type of emotion in Monday's national title game, saying that his mother would never tolerate it.

But Oden, the public introvert, and Noah, the unabashed extrovert, share a common philosophy about what Noah calls "living in the moment." Both will be high NBA draft picks whenever they turn professional, but neither has shown a rush to leave the college game behind.

Their mere desire to attend college has helped create a championship game collision between two transcendent big men that would have been almost inconceivable as little as five years ago.

Instead of looking forward, they have been soaking in the college experience, at least for this season. In an age where elite players often look for the quickest route out of college, both Oden and Noah said they have grown through campus experiences both in basketball and life.

"I love college," Noah said.

"I enjoy my classes," Oden said.

Until Noah returned for his junior season, no player this decade who had been named the Final Four's most outstanding player returned to school the following season. And before the NBA imposed a minimum age requirement, any center of Oden's stature and reputation likely would have made the jump from high school to the NBA.

With a tennis legend as a father, Noah didn't need the immediate financial boost and chose to try to "make history with friends" and become the first repeat national champion in 15 years. Long before the NBA implemented its age rule, Oden repeatedly said he wanted to attend college in part because he didn't feel he was ready to play professionally.

Whether Oden would have attended college if the age restriction were not in place remains a subject of debate, but ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said the rule has "set up the possibility for the first time in two decades of seeing great college big men on the floor at the Final Four. It's like watching dinosaurs in that movie years ago, 'Jurassic Park,' the behemoths."

The on-court duel between the 7-foot Oden and the 6-11 Noah could go a long way in determining which team wins the national championship. And it matches diverse individuals who have enjoyed the school year, even as many outsiders speculated on their draft status.

Oden said he has an appreciation for Noah for returning to school because "you have guys willing to stay for the [experience] of school and education, rather than go for the quick bucks they know they can make."

Noah shares a respect for Oden because of how he has handled the attention and scrutiny he attracted long before he got to Columbus.