DeMarcus Cousins remembers the crazy hype around Greg Oden in high school: "They were saying he was the next Shaquille O'Neal"

Many people remember Greg Oden as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history. But before injuries derailed Oden's NBA career, he was a beast of a basketball player.

In his lone season at Ohio State, Greg led the Buckeyes to the 2007 NCAA championship game. That season, he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player, First Team All-Big 10, NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and a consensus Second Team All-American.

But even before that magical year, Oden already carried a lot of hype with him. Former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins says that Oden was so highly regarded that he was compared to the most dominant player in NBA history.

"Him coming out of high school, the hype was crazy," said Boogie on The Forgotten Seasons podcast. " Like they were saying he was the next Shaquille O'Neal. It was crazy."

Oden was already a seven-foot monster

Born in New York before relocating to Terre Haute, Oden led Lawrence North High School to three straight Indiana Class 4A basketball championships. As a senior, he won two consecutive Gatorade National Boys Player of the Year awards, joining LeBron James as the only player to accomplish the feat.

At seven feet tall in high school, Oden was a dominant force on the basketball court, hence the Shaq comparisons. He averaged 22 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in his final prep season. Greg averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game during his one season at Ohio State. He almost got them to win March Madness while playing with one hand during the season this is a testament to his dominance.

"He dominated throughout the tournament," added Cousins. "I remember he broke his hand or some sh** and he was hooping with the left, right?"...They almost won."

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He learned to be ambidextrous

When Oden entered Ohio State, he was coming off a right wrist surgery, and his right hand was in a cast. So he started shooting with his left hand. NY native could already shoot hooks left and right in high school, but in college, he took it further to 10-footers and then to free throws. Soon, he learned to become ambidextrous.

Although he was able to use his right hand later that season, Oden shot left-handed from the free-throw line all year. Despite using his offhand, Greg shot 61.6% from the foul line that season, which is better than Shaq's career free-throw percentage of 52.7%. But that's as far as the O'Neal comparisons would go due to his NBA career.

Oden was picked first overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, but injuries hounded him even before he played his first NBA game. Oden missed his rookie season with a knee injury, and his knee problems piled up from there. He ended up playing just 105 regular-season games and is considered one of the biggest busts ever.

Related: Greg Oden wished he had played more with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge: "I wish I was healthy enough to build what Portland had"