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OLLIE'S ODYSSEY

Note: The following is the second installment of "Ollie's Diary", a look inside Farragut (Ill.) big man Ollie Bailey, one of the top juniors in the nation.

By Ollie Bailey

I couldn't wait to get out and play our second game, especially since it had been so long ‚ about two weeks - since our first game and because I didn't play so well in the season-opener. We beat Chicago Manley, 74-60, tonight (Wednesday) and I finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, a block and 2 assists. The biggest thing was that I didn't have any fouls, which was kind of weird since I fouled out of the first game without scoring any points.

Manley had a couple of 6-6 guys, but I stayed out of foul trouble and played almost the entire game. I sat out one time just before halftime because I was getting tired. I wasn't really nervous and didn't feel pressure coming into the game. People were telling me they were going to play a 2-3 zone and I just tried to get it out of my mind. My uncle and my coach were just telling me not to worry about it. They played a 2-3 zone almost the whole game, but I did alright. I scored about half of my points on putbacks and the other half on low-post moves.

We're 2-0 now and we were ranked sixth in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Tribune has us at eighth in the state, but the most important thing right now is the Proviso West tournament that's coming up after Christmas. All the big-time teams are in it and we open with Fenwick on the 26th at 8:30. I really want to play Proviso East. I want revenge against them because they beat us this summer at the Moody Bible Tournament, but it really doesn't matter what teams we play.

I'm definitely going to sleep better after this game. I'm not sure why I played so much better this game, but I know that I tried to block too many shots last game and got a little out of control. I wasn't blocking a lot of shots, but I had my hand in their face and that made a big difference.

About 15 college coaches have called my high school coach, William "Wolf' Nelson, and told them they'd be at the Christmas tournament. Some of the coaches have already seen me play, but other have just heard about me. I'm really looking forward to it because some people talk about me as one of the top players in the state and maybe the country, but I don't want to get too big-headed or flashy. I want to be humble.

The coaches aren't allowed to call me until March, so now they just call my coach and send me letters. I get about a box full every day ‚ one at home and one at school. It's crazy, but I don't worry about that.

Right now the schools that are the most interested seem to be UCLA, Texas, Michigan State, Seton Hall, Iowa, Fresno State and Florida State. They basically all write me every day, but Iowa probably sends me the most.

The funniest one I got was from Valparaiso. It was a Sports Illustrated cover with my picture on it and it said something like "Valpo's Young Gun". That's too much. I'm just a junior. You've got to slow down because it's not like I'm LeBron James or anything.

Speaking of LeBron, I watched his game last week. I've seen him play a couple times before ‚ once in Chicago my sophomore year and once this past summer when he broke his wrist. I know he's the No. 1 player and he gets a lot of hype, but I think he lived up to it. He doesn't think like the No. 1 player would ‚ he passes it around, plays defense, plays hard all the time. That's what I really like about him.

Getting back to the recruiting, I want to go somewhere that I can play, but I also want to go somewhere that will help me off the court. It's pretty wide open right now. Even though these schools are coming at me, hopefully they'll be others that come at me, especially if I go to Nike Camp this summer. I'm going to keep my eyes open and look and see what colleges really seem to want me. If they come to my games, that'll show me that they're really interested in me.

Ollie