Ridnour
continued from page 3B
billboard. He still doesn’t like the
idea of competing with skyscrapers.
“I wasn’t real big on it,” Ridnour
said. “I think it’d be a lot cooler if the
whole team was up there.”
But McBride could care less about
the billboard right now. He just wants
to see Ridnour in action, but commer
cials are still filling the TV screen.
Finally, after what seems like an en
tire pack of Marlboros, the game final
ly gets under way. McBride quiets.
Soon after tipoff, Randy Kirk enters
through the back door at Pastime. A
coach at a nearby Boys and Girls’
Club, Kirk has stopped in to find out
his weekly score from the bar’s NFL
fantasy league. He’s quickly reminded
that Ridnour’s playing on ESPN, and,
as one of Ridnour’s youth coaches,
Kirk can’t help but reminisce.
“In fifth grade, he was asking
questions that most high school kids
wouldn’t even ask,” Kirk said. “It
blew me away.”
On the tube, Ridnour and the
Ducks are looking like they’d get eat
en up by the Borderites’ girl’s basket
ball team, much less a Division I
men’s team like Cincinnati.
A precursor for a blowout, the
Bearcats have jumped out to a 17-4
lead over the Ducks. The gossip at
Pastime turns to Ridnour’s social
life, which, oddly enough, seems to
always involve basketball.
“Since he was 1 year old, he’s slept
with his basketball,” Ziegler says.
“I’ve never seem him without a bas
ketball.”
Ziegler even reveals, hesitantly,
that she heard that Ridnour’s mom
"In fifth grade he was
asking questions most
high schoolers
wouldn't ask."
Randy Kirk
former Ridnour coach
built him a separate bed for the bas
ketball. (As fun as it would be, Rid
nour denies such allegations, though
he does admit he likes to have a bas
ketball with him whenever he can.)
Hoping for better luck with the
Ducks, Tim McBride and his wife,
Linda, pay their tab at Pastime and
head to the Wheelhouse, just a
half-block down on Peace Portal
Drive. The only place in town with
satellite cable, the Wheelhouse has
a few more customers than Pas
time, but the mood is fittingly
somber with the Ducks trailing by a
large margin at halftime.
“Everyone’s bound to have a bad
day here or there,” Wheelhouse bar
tender Rick Freeman said.
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“Hoosiers,” Blaine, on the surface,
is the typical small town: every
body knows your name — especial
ly if it’s Ridnour — and everybody
loves basketball.
“It’s pretty cool like that,” Rid
nour said of Blaine’s bond with
Hickory, Ind., the fictional town in
“Hoosiers.” “The community is so
into basketball. They love it. The
whole county packs the gym.”
The only difference here is that
Canada is just a block away, and U.S.
Customs’ cameras, looking for border
hoppers and smugglers, scour every
street comer.
Other than that, Blaine’s a quiet
and peaceful place.
“Growing up in a small town, you
get to know everyone,” Ridnour said.
“It’s always about Blaine, it’s never just
about one person. I’ve always been a
team guy, and not let the awards and
stuff get to you because it’s not really
yours, it’s the people around you.
“It’s something you only get in a
smalltown.”
And even though his parents, Rob
(his high school coach) and Muriel,
travel to most Oregon games, Rid
nour still misses his home. And as
much as it can’t miss him, Blaine
hasn’t forgotten it’s claim to fame —
who could, very soon, become even
more famous.
Cincinnati is dominating. All
eyes, once fixed on the television in
hopes of catching a sweet Ridnour
pass, have now lowered. There are
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Luke Ridnour file
Junior guard
Blaine, Wash.
High School: Blaine
Oregon: Became the 24th Duck member of
the 1,000-point club last Saturday at
Stanford...ranks third all-time in Oregon
assists, fourth in steals and fifth in three
pointers made, despite only playing two plus
years in Eugene.. .only Duck to ever win Pac
10 Freshman of the Year award.. .first team
AH-Pac-10 in 2002 and honorable mention AP
All-American selection.
more drinks to gulp, pizzas to con
sume, Ridnour’s future-to consider.
“It’s a hard decision, but I think
he’ll go,” John Surowiecki said of the
lure of the NBA. “I wouldn’t chance
any injury (in school).”
Freeman doesn’t agree.
“I’m sure his parents want him to
get a degree,” he said. “Money’s one
thing, but I think it’s good to stick
with an education.
“Everybody in this town is proud
of his achievements — we watch
him every chance we can. And we’ll
support him with whatever decision
he makes.”
Of course, it’s all just speculation
at this point. Ridnour said he doesn’t
even know what he going to do after
this season.
“It’s my dream to play at the next
level,” Ridnour said, “but when
that happens is in God’s hands.
Whatever happens, happens. But
it’s about the team right now and
this team winning. That’s all that
matters right now.”
If he were to forgo his senior sea
son, NBAdraft.net, an unofficial
mock draft Web site, projects Rid
nour as a lottery pick this year.
“No matter how famous he gets,
he’ll never change,” Ziegler said.
Which is probably true. Millions of ^
dollars and NBA fame couldn’t taint
Ridnour’s modesty — a product of
his small-town roots.
“I love being in a small town,” Rid
nour said. “There’s nowhere else I’ll
ever want to live. Growing up with
the same people for so long, you get
so close. And that’s what I want my
kids to experience.”
Ridnour brought his most prized
possession with him to Oregon — the
one he keeps cradled with him every
night — but he did forget something
important in Blaine. His heart.
And someday, though not quite
soon enough, he’ll be back to get it.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
Pac-t 0
continued from page 6B
improve over last year’s seventh
place finish in the conference.
Arizona is outscoring its opponents,
on average, by 12.5 points per game
this season.
Wheeler, the 2002 Pac-10 Fresh
man of the Year, will start as point
guard again this season. She is her
team’s top returning scorer.
4. UCLA Bruins (10-4, 5-0)
Head coach: Kathy Olivier
Player to watch: Natalie Nakase, G
The Bruins are outscoring oppo
nents by an average of 13.5 points
so far this season. UCLA is the sur
prise team after finishing last year
at eighth place.
Nakase controls the point guard
position for the third-straight sea
son. She had 148 assists last year,
and has leading scorer Michelle
Greco back in the lineup for more
assists from Nakase.
5. Arizona State Sun Devils
(10-4, 2-3)
Head coach: Charli Turner Thome
Player to watch: Betsy Board
man, G/F
The Sun Devils won the
McArthur Court-hosted Pac-10
Tournament last year and finished
second in the conference. Arizona
State returns six letterwinners but
lost its three top scorers.
Boardman is her team’s top re
turning scorer, averaging nine
points per game last season. She is
one of two juniors on a squad with
no seniors.
6. Oregon Ducks
Head coach: Bev Smith
Player to watch: Carolyn Ganes, C
Losing the 2000 Pac-10 Player of
the Year and the team’s top return
ing scorer early in the season does
n’t help a team win games. Neither
does losing the second top return
ing scorer less than a month later
to injury. Yet the Ducks are making
progress — as they proved by al
most upsetting Stanford on Satur
day, 75-74.
Ganes is averaging 10,3 points
per game, and 15.7 in conference
games, in her freshman season. She
is second in the Pac-10 at free
throws, shooting 84 percent.
7. Oregon State Beavers
Head coach: Judy Spoelstra
Player to watch: Leilani Estavan, G
Three starters return to the
Beaver squad this season, while a
Pac-10-leading nine newcomers
meet them on the court. The loss of
Felicia Ragland, who averaged 19.9
points per game for Oregon State,
will hurt.
Estavan has been running the
Beaver squad for two years at point
guard and is her squad’s top return
ing steal-maker.
8. California Golden Bears
Head coach: Garen Horstmeyer
Player to watch: Kristin Iwanaga, G
With 11 returning letterwinners,
the Golden Bears are building a
program for the future. Nine of
those 11 were newcomers last sea
son, and with another handful this
season, things look bright for
Horstmeyer in the next few years.
Iwanaga led last year’s squad
with 23 three-point baskets. She is
joined by top returning scorer
LaTasha O’Keith, and together, the
two will lead California.
9. USC Trojans
Head coach: Chris Gobrecht
Player to watch: Ebony Hoffman, F
The Trojans finished fourth in
the Pac-10 last year but are faced
with the lack of a quality point
guard. Aisha Hollans will help out
Hoffman as a team leader.
Hoffman was a first-team All Pac
10 member last year, and she leads
her team in both points and re
bounds. Hoffman has seven double
doubles this season, while Hollans
has three this season.
10. Washington State Cougars
Head coach: Sherri Murrell
Player to watch: Jessica Perry, G
Between a new head coach and
six newcomers to the program, the
Cougars are pulling all the stops to
change their ways. With an 0-18
Pac-10 record last season, Washing
ton State wants to win.
Perry is one of eight letterwin
ners who return under their new
coach, and she is the Cougars’ top
returning scorer.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.