Indianapolis ? Greg Oden might be the next LeBron James.

Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan State, Arkansas and Wake Forest are among the schools that have recruited the 7-foot high school junior. Other schools haven’t bothered because they figure he’ll go directly to the pros.

Oden, a polite kid who turns 17 in January, is just trying to ignore the hype.

“A lot of people come up to me, but I really try to shy away from the attention,” he said, “because in my mind, I think somebody’s going to get tired of seeing me in the newspaper.”

He has been making plenty of appearances in the national media. Oden was on the cover of Student Sports magazine’s season preview edition last month. Sports Illustrated featured him recently, and ESPN2 televised his team’s victory Thursday night over Poplar Bluff, the Class 5A champion from Missouri.

“He knows he must improve,” said Jack Keefer, his coach at Lawrence North High. “He knows he’s not good enough, even though everybody’s trying to tell him he is.”

Oden wanted to pass the time, not grab headlines, when he began playing basketball in fourth grade. He had moved with his mother, Zoe, and brother, Anthony, from Buffalo, N.Y., to Terre Haute, Ind. There wasn’t much else to do, he said, so he began playing ball every day at the Boys Club.

The family moved to Indianapolis four years later. He had grown to 6-7 and was playing at Craig Middle School when Keefer first saw him.

“Everybody kept telling me they had this big monster in the eighth grade who was dunking the ball. So I went down and watched their first game of the year,” Keefer said. “The place was packed. … I haven’t seen a junior high game like that in my entire life.”

Greg Oden, center, talks with friends on his way to his math class at Lawrence North High in Indianapolis. Many experts are predicting Oden would be a No. 1 draft pick should he forgo college and jump directly to the NBA.

By the next fall, when Oden enrolled at Lawrence North, Keefer knew Oden was ready to start.

“We didn’t have to play him into a spot; he deserved a spot right away,” Keefer said. “He didn’t score much, but he had the presence on the floor that adjusted the whole game.”

Oden averaged 13.9 points and 9.8 rebounds a game as a sophomore, helping lead Lawrence North to the Indiana Class 4A championship. He was an Associated Press first-team All-State selection.

This season, his Wildcats are ranked No. 1, and Oden is a key reason. He hit 20 of his 23 shots in the first two games this season, and through the first five games — including Thursday’s 56-40 victory over Poplar Bluff and North Carolina recruit Tyler Hansbrough — was averaging 19.4 points and 10.2 rebounds.

“Just throw it up to him, and he’ll go get it most times,” senior Donald Cloutier said. “If they’re doubling-down on him, I can look at 15-foot jump shots all day.”

His power game is what draws scouts, who liken Oden to James, the No. 1 pick in 2003, and other high school players who have gone directly to the NBA — Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal.

Lawrence North High's Greg Oden, right, battles Columbia City's Scott Moore for a loose ball in the Indiana Class 4A state championship at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in this March 27, 2004, file photo. Oden, being touted as the next LeBron James, is being recruited by Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan State, Arkansas and Wake Forest, among others.

Oden says he isn’t ready for the NBA. For now, he wants to concentrate on being a presence on the court — and keeping the attention low-key.

When ESPN came to town for a setup story for the Poplar Bluff game, the crew wanted to ride the team bus, wanted to go home with Oden, wanted to follow him from class to class. Most of the requests were denied, Keefer said.

“He doesn’t want to walk the halls with a camera following him. He’s just a kid,” he said.

Regardless of what Oden decides, the attention isn’t likely to fade. And there’s another Oden waiting in the wings.

Little brother Anthony — 6-foot-8, 250 pounds and still growing — is a freshman on the junior varsity team at Lawrence North. Greg has been tutoring Anthony in basketball skills, especially moves in the post.

“I look up to him a lot,” said Anthony, 15. “He taught me to just keep working on my game so I can be as good as him, hopefully.”