Ridnour left off list of finalists for Wooden.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

Luke Ridnour didn't make the list of finalists for the Wooden Award?

That's correct. The Oregon junior, who was announced Monday as the Pac-10's player of the year, isn't on the final list of 22 players in consideration for one of college basketball's top awards.

`I think it's unfortunate,' UO coach Ernie Kent said. `Luke Ridnour is in that group, he's one of the best players in the country.

`Anybody who covers college basketball and truly knows the game knows he should be considered.'

So what happened? It comes down to the simple fact that there wasn't enough support from the 25-member national advisory board for the Wooden Award to keep Ridnour in consideration after he was one of the 30 players listed in a midseason cutdown.

`I was surprised I didn't see his name on the (final) list,' said Pete Newell, the former California coach who is on the Wooden advisory board.

`Personally, I thought he was going to make it but I don't have a vote,' said Mike Solum, director of the Wooden Award. `I think maybe it also reflects on (Oregon's) overall play. If they'd had the season they were supposed to and finished second or even third (in the Pac-10) instead of fifth ... that reflects on the voting.'

`Because Oregon didn't live up to the preseason hype, they held that against him?' Kent asked. `To me that's kind of unfair. ... I have a hard time buying that as an excuse.'

From that midseason list of 30 players, the members of the national advisory board were asked to select 15 finalists, and they could add write-in candidates, which resulted in two players making the final group of 22. Solum said the final ballot is usually limited to `about 20' but there was a five-way tie for the last berth.

Also eliminated are any players who don't have a grade-point average of at least 2.00, and schools are required to submit a letter of certification that a player has met that criteria. Solum said Oregon had provided the letter on Ridnour's behalf.

`Unfortunately, he just didn't get the votes,' Solum said.

While the final voting for the Wooden Award is done by more than 1,000 voters from all 50 states, the 25-member advisory board that selects the finalists is heavily weighted with writers and broadcasters who are based on the East Coast.

Six members of that panel work for newspapers published in the Eastern time zone, and six others work for television networks, which are based in the New York area. There are also writers or editors for four national publications and five other writers who work for newspapers in the Central time zone.

The four representatives from the West are Newell, a legendary coach listed as a `basketball analyst/scout' and three writers for newspapers: Blaine Newnham of the Seattle Times, Art Spander of the Oakland Tribune and Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times.

Newell and Spander said Ridnour was one of the 15 players who each voted for as a finalist, Newell adding that Ridnour `is a real good player. I don't know that there are (22) guys better than him.'

Dwyre couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday and Newnham said he wasn't able to meet the Feb. 25 deadline for the advisory panel vote because he was traveling out of the country.

`I always vote heavily for West Coast guys, so I feel badly for missing it,' Newnham said.

Newnham said he would have voted for Ridnour as a finalist, but suggested `maybe it's easy for him to get lost in the big shuffle.'

Both Newnham and Spander also suggested players from the West do operate at a disadvantage in being considered for national awards.

`We don't count,' Spander said. `It's only when UCLA wins eight (national basketball titles) in a row or a Joey Harrington or Carson Palmer comes along that anybody notices the West Coast (in college sports).'

`In other parts of the country, how often do you get to see (Pac-10 players)?' Newnham asked.

Ridnour did play in two games this season that should have accorded him some national attention, leading the Ducks to a win over Kansas in a game telecast by CBS but probably suffering in the eyes of voters due to Oregon's loss to Cincinnati in a game played in New Jersey, with at least two of the national advisory board for the Wooden in attendance at the game.

The only players from the West on the final ballot are Arizona teammates Luke Walton and Jason Gardner.

Of the other 20 finalists, five are from the Big East Conference, four from the Big 12 and three each from the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Conference USA, with one each from the Missouri Valley and Big Ten conferences.

In the 26 previous years of the Wooden Award, there have been three winners from the Pac-10: Marques Johnson of UCLA in 1977, Sean Elliott of Arizona in 1989 and Ed O'Bannon of UCLA in 1995. There have also been two other winners from the West: BYU's Danny Ainge in 1981 and Larry Johnson of Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991.

In addition to the Wooden Award going to the top vote-getter, the four players who follow in the voting are on the Wooden all-America team.