At the time, it didn’t seem like there was that much at stake for the Oregon Ducks last season as they took on a touring Australian team in their first exhibition game back on Nov. 12, 1999.
The atmosphere in legendary McArthur Court that night was nowhere near what it is usually like for a Pacific-10 Conference game. Among the 8,009 fans seated in The Pit that night was a young man by the name of Luke Ridnour.
The players on the court may not have cared too much about their ho-hum 98-87 win, but for Ridnour, the game helped him make a decision that would shock the basketball world and provide yet another example with how far Oregon athletics has come.
Ridnour was believed to be the top high school point guard on the West Coast and one of the five best in the nation. The 6-foot-2 point guard was one of the country’s most complete prep talents. In his biography in the media guide it says that he is a “pure point guard who will evoke comparisons to the NBA’s John Stockton and Jason Williams.”
And on this particular fall night in Eugene, he was deciding on where he was going to spend his college career.
He had already visited Oregon, but had not yet seen a game. Even in the exhibition game he saw shades of what an amazing place Mac Court is to play in.
He fell in love and was sold on becoming a Duck.
“I came down for that first exhibition game, and even then it was almost sold out,” Ridnour said. “It was only the first game and I knew right then that I wanted to play there.”
The day after the game, on Saturday, Nov. 13, Ridnour signed a letter of intent with Oregon. The news was so big that the Oregon football radio broadcast of its intense game versus California that afternoon was put on hold for a moment as play-by-play man Jerry Allen shared the exciting news of Ridnour’s decision.

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Kentucky, Utah, Washington, Gonzaga and UCLA. Five schools with rich basketball histories. Five schools that practically any high school recruit would die to play for. And five schools that were praying to have Ridnour be their point guard of the future.
Ridnour admits that it was the toughest decision of his life. Right off the bat, he decided not to visit UCLA, but did go see the other four. The maximum amount of schools that the NCAA allows a potential recruit to visit is five, leaving one lucky school with a shot at him — albeit a long shot.
Ridnour was then courted by both Oregon and Oregon State. Not really wanting to visit because of the fact that he hates saying no to people that are nice to him, Ridnour sort of reluctantly decided to choose one over the other.
Former Oregon State head coach Eddie Payne saw him play for only five minutes and offered him a scholarship. Ridnour was impressed and thought he might check out Corvallis.
But then Oregon head coach Ernie Kent proved why he is one of the most regarded recruiting coaches in the nation.
Kent, who had heard of Ridnour even back in his St. Mary’s coaching days, connected with the youngster. Kent sold Ridnour on the electricity of Mac Court. On the deafening roar of the crowd. On the Pac-10 and its skilled players. And on the city of Eugene and its small-town feel.
The sales pitch was successful.
“Coach Kent was real impressive when he came in on a recruiting visit,” 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 decided to check out Oregon as his final 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,” Ridnour 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 important that they get to know all of them and understand different personalities,” 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 missing 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 immediately 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 hometown school of Washington. But in the end it came down to Gonzaga and Oregon.
One day, the phone rang at Ridnour’s house and it was a former Gonzaga point guard who was calling to just “see how things were going.”
It turned out, however, that Ridnour 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 exceeded expectations. He was going to become a Duck.
“Of the five schools that I visited,” Ridnour said, “Oregon was the only school that I found zero negatives about.”
And by the way, that former Gonzaga point guard’s name was John Stockton.

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The city of Blaine, Wash., lies directly on the border between the state of Washington and the country 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 2A 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 remarkable 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 recruiting class in the West. “I’m just real excited to see what it’s all about. I’m looking forward to the challenges and the competition.”
He faced a tough test on March 29 when he traveled to Boston to participate in the prestigious 2000 McDonald’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 athletic dunkers and ballers.
“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 showtime 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 Ridnour 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 Jason Gardner from Arizona,” Ridnour said. “He’s a tough competitor and he’ll be fun to go up against.”
The Ducks will play those Wildcats on Feb. 1, and by then, Ridnour expects to be making much more of an impact than he already ha
s been in his young Duck career.
“Each game I’m going to get a little better,” Ridnour said.

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Family is an important part of Luke Ridnour’s life. So is basketball.
Luke’s dad, Rob, was his head basketball coach at Blaine High School.
Luke’s mom, Muriel, was the team’s statistician.
Luke’s sister, Heather, plays basketball at a community college in Spokane, Wash.
So it is easy to see why Ridnour would choose a college where family and basketball are so closely intertwined.
But even after Ridnour happily announced that he was going to Oregon there were problems. Rumors floated around that Kent and the Ducks had done something illegal 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 family feeling that existed.
“It sent out all kinds of rumors as to how Oregon could get someone over Kentucky and Utah and Gonzaga,” 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 really 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 beginning of Saturday’s game against Massachusetts in the Papé Jam at the Rose Garden.
“He’s got great potential,” Oregon junior guard Anthony Norwood 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 Rob Chavez came away impressed with Ridnour 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 eagerly awaiting his arrival.
“When they see me, I think they’ll know that I’m all about winning,” 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 Stanford 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 accordingly, that Mac Court crowd is soon to be even louder this season with a certain freshman at the point.