Ridnor
continued from page 7A
it,” Ridnour said. “When he came
into my house to talk to us about his
program, he just wowed us. He gave
us this big recruiting pitch and
caught us off guard. He caught my
eye.”
So in early October, Ridnour de
cided to check out Oregon as his fi
nal stop on the recruiting trail.
Not quite knowing what to expect,
Ridnour said he approached the
weekend with a “wait-and-see” type
attitude. All of that changed when he
saw his potential teammates.
He hung out with players such as
Bryan Bracey, Freddie Jones, Julius
Hicks and David Jackson.
“I chilled with all the guys and
they all seemed to like me,” Rid
nour said. “Right away, they made
me feel like a part of the team. ”
This was precisely what Kent had
hoped for. Kent was so confident in
his players’ ability to show Ridnour
around that he often let them be by
themselves.
“In our recruiting, we try to have
the recruits spend time with all of
our players because I think it’s im
portant that they get to know all of
them and understand different per
sonalities,” Kent said. “Because a
recruit is going to click differently
with different guys, so when you
don’t give them an opportunity to
meet everyone, you could be miss
ing out on an opportunity that could
swing your way. ”
Once again, it was a philosophy
that worked in Kent’s favor.
Ridnour was so impressed with
his Oregon visit that he immediate
ly put Oregon up there at the top of
his list.
He then had to make some tough
choices. The lure of nationally
prominent Kentucky just wasn’t
enough for the Blaine, Wash., native
as he decided to stay closer to home.
Utah was tempting, as was his
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hometown school of Washington.
But in the end it came down to Gon
zaga and Oregon.
One day, the phone rang at Rid
nour’s house and it was a former Gon
zaga point guard who was calling to
just “see how things were going. ”
It turned out, however, that Rid
nour had practically made up his
mind.
If the Oregon exhibition game that
he would attend was anywhere near
what he envisioned it to be, then he
would be headed to the school that
joined in on the Ridnour chase much
later than every other school.
His experience at Mac Court ex
ceeded expectations. He was going
to become a Duck.
“Of the five schools that I visit
ed,” Ridnour said, “Oregon was the
only school that I found zero nega
tives about.”
And by the way, that former Gon
zaga point guard’s name was John
Stockton.
The city of Blaine, Wash., lies di
rectly on the border between the
state of Washington and the coun
try of Canada. Its population is just
under 4,000 people total, and yet
2,000 people packed the Blaine
High School gymnasium every
home game to see Luke Ridnour.
Ridnour played the starring role on
his Blaine Borderites basketball
team that he led to back-to-back
Washington Class 2 A state titles.
Last season, he averaged 29
points, seven assists, six steals and
five rebounds a game. His stats were
fairly consistent with his junior year
numbers of 26 points, 8 assists and
5.5 boards a game. That junior year
team of his went 27-0 to cap off a re
markable 72-8 three-year record for
Ridnour and his team.
Ridnour is a legend in the city
that he lived in for 10 years. But he
makes sure to point out how excited
he is to be in Eugene.
“I came down this summer to get
ready for this; wanted to get started
early,” said Ridnour, whose arrival
helped Oregon capture the honor of
having the number one ranked re
cruiting class in the West. “I’m just
real excited to see what it’s all about.
I’m looking forward to the chal
lenges and the competition.”
He faced a tough test on March 29
when he traveled to Boston to par
ticipate in the prestigious 2000 Mc
Donald’s All-American Game. The
experience was a rewarding one for
the youngster, but it was tough for
him to shine with his team-first
style of play amidst the many ath
letic dunkers and bailers.
“It was a great experience being a
part of the McDonald’s game, but
that just wasn’t my type of game,”
Ridnour said of the acclaimed prep
all-star game. “It’s more of a show
time game and I’m more of a team
player.”
Kent certainly viewed Ridnour as
already being an important part of
his team earlier in the spring. The
two talked every week while Rid
nour completed his senior year of
high school and Kent sent his star
recruit videotapes of last season’s
Pac-10 games.
“I’ve been real impressed with Ja
son Gardner from Arizona,” Rid
nour said. “He’s a tough competitor
and he’ll be fun to go up against. ”
The Ducks will play those Wild
cats on Feb. 1, and by then, Ridnour
expects to be making much more of
an impact than he already has been
in his young Duck career.
“Each game I’m going to get a lit
tle better,” Ridnour said.
Family is an important part of
Luke Ridnour’s life. So is basketball.
Luke’s dad, Rob, was his head bas
ketball coach at Blaine High School.
Luke’s mom, Muriel, was the
team’s statistician.
Luke’s sister, Heather, plays bas
ketball at a community college in
Spokane, Wash.
So it is easy to see why Ridnour
would choose a college where fam
ily and basketball are so closely in
tertwined.
But even after Ridnour happily
announced that he was going to '
Oregon there were problems. Ru
mors floated around that Kent and
the Ducks had done something ille
gal to entice the youngster, such as
perhaps luring him with money.
Such rumors flabbergasted Kent
and Ridnour alike because they
both knew that the reason the two
hooked up was because of the fami
ly feeling that existed.
“It sent out all kinds of rumors as
to how Oregon could get someone
over Kentucky and Utah and Gon
zaga,” Kent said. “This is why
we’re getting him because of this or
because of that. But none of those
rumors were true.
“He came here because our guys
did a better job of recruiting him. ”
Ridnour says that one of the
main ingredients he was looking
for was a school with a great family
atmosphere. He’s not saying that
the other schools didn’t provide
him with it, but he just felt more
comfortable in the environment at
Oregon.
“I loved the coaches and team a
lot,” Ridnour said. “They’re all
good guys and real nice. They real
ly care about each other. ”
When relayed Ridnour’s words,
Kent’s smile grows wider.
“Our guys were more together
and our guys were more like family
than any of those other programs,”
Kent said. “And that’s why he
came here. He sensed it. He saw it.
He felt it. There’s a lot of emotion in ‘
it.
“He had this basketball family
that really just absorbed him and
he absorbed them.”
Ridnour also is very comfortable
with the fact that he made the right
decision for the right reasons. The
Ducks’ run-and-gun offense suits
his playing style perfect. He’s also
playing close enough to home so
his parents will have the chance to
see him play.
Thus far, Ridnour has started in
each of Oregon’s first four games
and will be out there at the begin
ning of Saturday’s game against
Massachusetts in the Pape Jam at
the Rose Garden.
“He’s got great potential,” Ore
gon junior guard Anthony Nor
wood said. “He’s a great guy and
does everything the right way. It’s
just a matter of him understanding
the system and he’ll be good to go.”
Portland head coach Rcb Chavez
came away impressed with Rid
nour after Oregon’s 66-60 victory
over the Pilots on Tuesday.
“He’s obviously a very talented,
savvy point guard,” Chavez said.
“He doesn’t turn the basketball
over very much and knows his job.
I’ve seen him play a lot and there
will be no surprises for me for what
he’s able to potentially accomplish
in his career here.”
Now, Ridnour wants to impress
the Duck fans who have been ea
gerly awaiting his arrival.
“When they see me, I think
they’ll know that I’m all about win
ning,” Ridnour said. “I am always
willing to do whatever it takes to
get the win and I enjoy being a part
of a winning team.”
The fans shouldn’t worry about
disappointing Ridnour. He got to
experience them at their best in a
Pac-10 showdown against Stan
ford last season—an experience
that Ridnour still gushes over.
“At that Stanford game, that
crowd was amazing,” Ridnour
said. “I’ve never seen anything like
that in my life. It was unbelievable.
It was very, very loud. ”
And if Kent’s plan goes accord
ingly, that Mac Court crowd is soon
to be even louder this season with a
certain freshman at the point.