Three Bruins are up for Naismith Trophy

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute knows this about James Naismith: He invented basketball, and he was from Canada.

Mbah a Moute was among three UCLA players nominated Thursday for the 2007-08 Naismith Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top college player.

Junior guard Darren Collison and junior forward Josh Shipp were also among the 50 nominees.

“It’s an honor,” Mbah a Moute said. “But it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is the team. My health is good, my knees are fine.”

Mbah a Moute struggled last season with persistent tendinitis and denied all year that sore knees affected his game. But now that he feels better, Mbah a Moute concedes the knees may have slowed him.

“A lot of people say so,” he said. “It could be true. They feel better now, not hurting as much. I’ll be able to tell more about it halfway through the season.”

Coach Ben Howland has said Mbah a Moute is one of the finest defenders in the country, able to guard any of the five positions on the court.

“I played point guard in high school,” Mbah a Moute said. “I can guard one.”

The 6-foot-8 forward said he’d also be willing to play the position. “I can play point guard,” he said. “I don’t know if Coach Howland is willing to do that but I have no problem to do that.”

It is unlikely Collison needs to worry.

Sophomore forward James Keefe said he is on track for a mid-December return after recovering from left shoulder surgery performed in August.

He figures upper body strength will take him the longest to recover.

“My shot’s pretty good right now,” Keefe said, “and conditioning-wise I should be all right with that.

“Strength-wise is the hard part. I still can’t lift with my upper body.”

Howland said center Lorenzo Mata-Real missed practice and might not be back until Monday after suffering a sprained right ankle.

A sprained right foot kept Mata-Real out of the first four days of practice.

Howland said Mata-Real rolled the ankle at practice Wednesday when he stepped on the foot of forward Alfred Aboya. “He wore a precautionary boot today,” Howland said. “He tweaked it, it happens.”

Last season, Kevin Durant of Texas became the first freshman to win the Naismith Award. Freshmen aren’t put on the original list but can be voted on later in the season.

UCLA winners include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton (three times) and Marques Johnson.

diane.pucin@latimes.com