COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME : It’s Last, but Not Least Game for Ed O’Bannon

We will never know if Nevada Las Vegas rather than UCLA would be playing for the national championship tonight had Ed O’Bannon not gotten free from his commitment there. We do not know how UCLA will fare against Arkansas in this, Ed’s final collegiate game. We do not even know whether Eddie O could go down as the greatest UCLA basketball forward ever.

But there are a number of things we do know about Ed O’Bannon.

We know how superstitious he can be, that before tonight’s game, as always, Ed will shoot a right-hand layup as his last practice shot, give his warm-up clothes to team manager Greg Buonaccorsi but to no one else, ritualistically rinse his mouthpiece, wipe his feet on a substance that keeps sneakers dry, and then: “Oh, yeah, I have to say, ‘What’s up?’ to my Dad. Then we can get started.”

We know how sensitive he can be, that Ed says he never understood why his parents kept bragging about their kids so much until he had one of his own, that recently he returned from a UCLA trip, said hello to his baby-sitter and suddenly felt his heart nearly leap from his chest with joy because: “As soon as my baby saw my face, he almost jumped out of his walker!”

We know how emotional Ed can get, even though he is not by nature a demonstrative person. Teammates haven’t forgotten the way Ed went after a Notre Dame player named Derek Manner earlier this season in a manner that literally would have resulted in fighting Irish. And after that Tulsa fiasco of March 1994, well, as Ed himself admitted Sunday: “I wanted to take off my uniform and just quit. I didn’t want to wear my UCLA uniform ever again if that was the way we were going to play.”

America is getting to know more and more about Ed O’Bannon with every passing day.

We know that Sunday morning Ed was named college player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn., over such worthy candidates as Joe Smith of Maryland, Jerry Stackhouse of North Carolina, Shawn Respert of Michigan State and Corliss Williamson of Arkansas, finally receiving some overdue recognition for his play.

We know that at 5:40 tonight, Ed will take the floor against all the President’s men from Arkansas, taking with him an extra helping of responsibility, knowing full well that Tyus Edney, his friend since childhood, is playing with the handicap of a sprained right wrist. On a team that uses two sophomores and two freshmen on a regular basis, Eddie O’s senior leadership is needed now more than ever.

And here is one last thing we know--how visibly moved Ed O’Bannon was Sunday at the way his teammates answered a question:

“Could you recall something that Ed has either done or said over the years that demonstrates his leadership?”

His brother, Charles, went first. He said: “What jumps out of my mind was last year’s game against Tulsa. The freshmen weren’t here to hear that, but at halftime of that game, Ed definitely stepped up and demonstrated how he wanted to end his season and how he wanted to go on and achieve better things. That he didn’t want anything less than, you know, to achieve greatness in his senior year.

“And from day one, Oct. 15, and even in conditioning before that, he let us know that this was his team. That he wanted to go out with a bang. And we have all jumped on his shoulders and he is basically carrying us, he and Tyus and George.”

Embarrassed, his eyes diverted to the floor, Ed then heard freshman J.R. Henderson say: “The thing I like what Ed does during a game is, when things start to get out of control and everybody is like, you know, just make one pass and shoot the ball, Ed sees that. When we get into our little huddle he says, ‘No more of that.’ He keeps control of the game for us.”

Next came Cameron Dollar, who said, “I remember we were playing California at their place, and from beginning to end, Ed just really dominated. He had a team-record seven three-pointers. His whole aura about himself was, ‘Hey, guys, I am here to play. Jump aboard!’ He just decided to take us to that victory.”

Only a freshman, Toby Bailey didn’t have many memories. One thing he did know, though: “You don’t really think that the best player on your team is going to be the one working the hardest. But Ed’s out scrapping, out fighting, every day in practice. He helped me out just by seeing how hard he worked.”

Ultimately it was George Zidek whose memory of Ed was that night when he got fighting mad. Zidek said, “I remember when we played against Notre Dame, Derek Manner knocked down Tyus when he went up for a layup. Ed ran all the way across the court and got into a little scuffle. That was a great inspiration to us. He showed Notre Dame that they shouldn’t do that kind of stuff in our house.”

Ed hadn’t expected this.

Sure, he had heard compliments before. And he gave as good as he got. But suddenly, within earshot, here were his brother Bruins, telling the world what Ed O’Bannon meant to them. Only then did Ed begin to realize how close he was to the end, how soon he really would strip off that UCLA uniform and never wear it again. “The feeling is mutual,” Ed said. “To hear them say that really warms my heart.”

He doesn’t know if he will score 50 tonight and lose, or score 15 and win. He doesn’t know if John Wooden will be addressing his team beforehand or if Bill Clinton will be addressing it afterward. He doesn’t know if he will call Los Angeles home for his entire life and wear a Clipper or Laker shirt to work, or be handing to the team manager something like a Boston Celtic or a New Jersey Net warm-up suit, far, far away.

“Win or lose,” he said, “this is the last time I put a UCLA uniform on. I’ve gone as far as I can go.”