COLUMBUS, Ohio – Though no NBA decisions have been made at Ohio State, the future of freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. is back up in the air after he said in the aftermath of Ohio State’s loss to Florida 10 days ago that he was 100 percent sure he’d be back for his sophomore season.

After a celebration of the Buckeyes’ basketball team in front of 4,000 fans at Value City Arena on Wednesday night, OSU coach Thad Matta said, “I don’t think Michael understood completely what was on the other side of the fence when he said that.”

Conley and fellow freshmen Greg Oden and Daequan Cook are hearing from all parties now.

They are expected to meet together this weekend, and Matta expects to sit down with his freshmen next week, though he has told them he refuses to make a case for why they should return. Other than a conversation with Oden about the basics of the draft process on their flight back from the Wooden Award ceremonies in Los Angeles last weekend, Matta said he hasn’t been involved in any draft talk.

As Texas’ Kevin Durant and UCLA’s Aaron Afflalo have said they’re going, and North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson have said they’re staying, Matta believes everyone at Ohio State is still deciding.

“I think this is very similar to their recruiting process,” Matta said. “Everybody says, “They know, they know, they know,’ and they don’t.”

None of the freshmen spoke to reporters Wednesday, and when Conley and Oden sat down with broadcaster Bill Hosket to answer questions for the fans, as all the players did, Hosket said he’d ask the question everyone was wondering about – then asked them what they had for lunch. (Oden said chicken, Conley turkey.)

NBA Commissioner David Stern might have some insight, though.

On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Stern didn’t mention the 7-foot Oden by name, but said the June 28 draft would draw a lot of interest “because there are going to be a lot of good players in this draft and a lot of them are going to be very tall.”

Players must declare for the draft by April 29, though they can withdraw their names by June 18 if they don’t sign with an agent. Though Matta won’t argue for staying, he was ready with some reasons.

“I think that money is one thing, memories are another,” Matta said. “A lot of people would rather have great memories.”