THE INSIDE TRACK : Hoosier Stars Don’t Have Anything on Golden State

John Wooden, one of Indiana’s favorite sons, has been named chairman of a panel assembled to to choose the 50 greatest basketball players from the state. I can’t go 50 deep, but a representative first seven might look like this:

Oscar Robertson and Rick Mount at guards, Larry Bird and George McGinnis at forwards, Kent Benson at center, Bobby Plump as the offensive spark and Junior Bridgeman as the defensive stopper off the bench.

Plump, moviegoers around the country might recall, was the player made famous in the movie “Hoosiers” for leading tiny Milan High to an upset victory in the state championship game against Muncie Central.

The selection, sponsored by the Indiana Pacers, is certain to create considerable debate within the state. But it probably wouldn’t have generated much interest here if the press release to announce it hadn’t begun with the words, “In Indiana, a state richer in basketball history than anywhere else in the country. . . . “

California might not be known particularly for its basketball players because it has produced so many great athletes in other sports as well, but let’s match Indiana’s first seven against California’s: Jason Kidd and Gail Goodrich at guards, Bill Russell and Marques Johnson at forwards, Bill Walton at center, Reggie Miller as the offensive spark and K.C. Jones as the defensive stopper off the bench. I won’t argue if you choose to replace Jones with Michael Cooper, who had more success guarding Bird than anyone else.

My Indiana friends insist their team would win because they would have Wooden as their coach. But California could counter with Pete Newell, whose record against Wooden is 8-7.

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Wooden, who already has a basketball tournament in his honor at the Arrowhead Pond, will soon have one in Indianapolis. The first Wooden Tradition will be played Nov. 25, 2000, at the Pacers’ new arena, Conseco Fieldhouse, with games matching Notre Dame against Cincinnati and Purdue against Arizona.

A Purdue-UCLA game, Wooden’s alma mater versus the university he coached to 10 NCAA championships, would have been a natural. UCLA was invited and would have accepted if Purdue had agreed to switch its previously scheduled home game that season against the Bruins to the tournament. But the Boilermakers declined.

The Bruins, however, have tentatively agreed to play in the Pond’s Wooden Classic in 2000, probably against Georgia Tech.

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Oscar De La Hoya came to The Times on Wednesday with a tape of his fight Saturday night against Felix Trinidad. With De La Hoya providing round-by-round commentary, perhaps another potential new career for him, it was clear that he won the replay. . . .

Now for the rematch. . . .

De La Hoya did the right thing by insisting on fighting Trinidad again. Although De La Hoya danced a little when it came to discussing the money, at least he’s not running the way he did in the last three rounds Saturday night. . . .

De La Hoya said he will fight whenever and wherever, even on Trinidad’s turf in San Juan, Puerto Rico. . . .

If you’ll come to the Times sports department, I guess you’re not afraid to go anywhere. . . .

The last Oscar I saw in a sports department was Madison. De La Hoya was better dressed. . . .

As for insinuations by Bob Arum that the fight was stolen, rival promoter Dan Goossen of America Presents says, “If there were a boxing commissioner, he would force Bob to relinquish his control of Top Rank. He could go to the next fight with Marge Schott, sit next to Schottzie.” . . .

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Is billionaire oil man Marvin Davis serious about spending $1 billion for an NFL franchise and stadium at Hollywood Park? . . .

Baltimore Raven owner Art Modell says he is. . . .

“He’s doing this for his kids,” Modell told USA Today. “At this age [74], he’s not looking to go to training camp.” . . .

If you want to invest in an NFL team, all you have to do is sign on to BuytheJets.com. If enough of us pitch in, we can move them to Los Angeles. . . .

Who needs Davis--Marvin or Al?

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While wondering what the Stanford band is going to come up with Saturday, I was thinking: You know the U.S. Ryder Cup team is fired up when Jeff Maggert is talking trash, Rick Neuheisel’s old players are better than his new players, the Clippers should at least change their uniforms so we’d think they were going to be different.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com