The main focus in this story behind a team that has achieved unprecedented success and garnered unprecedented attention both in Indiana and nationally is center Greg Oden, regarded by many as the top high school basketball player in America. Oden and Mike Conley, Lawrence North's point guard and Oden's close friend, lead the team to its third-straight state championship and become the first Indiana team to ever win the mythical national championship. Beginning with the roots of Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis and legendary Coach Jack Keefer, and moving towards a friendship forged between Conley and Oden, Uncaged gives readers the full perspective on this incredible team with extensive behind-the-scenes background from assistant coach J.R. Shelt. Lawrence North won the 2005-06 Class 4A state title, tying the state record of 3 consecutive state titles and the longest winning streak of 45 games.
Dave Krider has covered high school sports for 45 years. He maintained USA Today's Super 25 high school team and player rankings for 18 years; has freelanced for Street & Smith's Basketball Yearbook, Basketball Weekly, and Basketball Times; and currently writes for Sports Illustrated. In 1997, he was the first newspaperman to be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame. That same year he was a unanimous choice for the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame. He still plays pickup basketball at the LaPorte YMCA two days a week.
J.R. Shelt served as an English teacher and assistant basketball coach at Lawrence North High School from 2001-2006 before accepting a job as head coach of Fishers High School following the 2006 school year. A native of Elkhart, Shelt starred in football and basketball in high school. He graduated from Indiana State, where he played basketball his senior year as a walk-on player. After graduation, he was an assistant coach at Indianapolis Tech High School, and then spent two years coaching at his alma mater, Elkhart Central High School, before joining the Lawrence North staff. Shelt and his wife, Brandi, have two daughters and live outside Indianapolis.
Scott Freeman is a Georgia native who has written extensively about sports for Atlanta magazine and other publications. In 1999, the first football story he ever wrote received a first-place honor for feature writing from the Football Writers Association of America. He is the author of two critically acclaimed music biographies--Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band, and Otis! The Otis Redding Story. He also is the co-author of Leo Mazzone's Tales from the Mound. Formerly executive editor of Indianapolis Monthly, Freeman is now senior editor at the Creative Loafing newspaper in Atlanta.
