Text messages from press row ...

Shaquille O’Neal, you may have heard, says that in Phoenix his nickname will be the Big Cactus because “if you come too close, you’re going to get stuck.” . . .

The question is, did the high-octane Phoenix Suns, in their haste to keep pace with the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and the Pau Gasol-fortified Lakers, get stuck with a broken-down Desert Diesel? . . .

O’Neal, who will make his Suns debut tonight at Phoenix against old foil Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, failed to score in double figures in seven of 32 games with the Miami Heat this season before Pat Riley unloaded him. . . .

He fouled out in six of his last 11. . . .

Illustrating the depth of talent in the Pacific 10 Conference, a mock NBA draft at nbadraft.net projects that more than one-quarter of the players taken in the June selection process will come from the Pac-10. . . .

It predicts that nine Pac-10 players, led by 7-foot Stanford sophomore Brook Lopez, will go in the first round, seven in the second. . . .

UCLA’s entire starting lineup -- guards Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison, center Kevin Love and forwards Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Josh Shipp, in that order -- is projected to be gone before the 42nd pick. . . .

USC’s heralded O.J. Mayo, hounded into a four-point, 10-turnover debacle by Westbrook on Sunday, is projected to be the 12th pick. . . .

Westbrook is listed at No. 10. . . .

After his well-earned ejection from USC’s 74-50 loss at Washington State on Feb. 9, USC Coach Tim Floyd boarded a flight from Spokane to LAX -- and found himself seated next to referee Don McAllister. . . .

Advertising copy writers couldn’t have scripted it better. . . .

Wanna get away? . . .

Newsweek magazine reports that, before Eli Manning and the New York Giants intervened, the New England Patriots planned to cash in by using phrases such as “19-0” and “Perfect Season” on a variety of products including greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles, kites and temporary tattoos. . . .

“Imperfect Season” and “18-1” don’t have the same ring. . . .

NASCAR, its season off to a flying start after Ryan Newman’s victory at Daytona, estimates that 25% of fans drawn to a typical race, such as Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, travel more than 300 miles to attend. . . .

In other words, to watch others drive, they drive a long way. . . .

Monica Seles deserved a warmer send-off than last week’s simple announcement that, after five years away from the WTA Tour, she was officially retiring. . . .

No other athlete ever had a career quite like Seles’, which was ascending at a record rate before her stabbing by a deranged Steffi Graf fan during a changeover at a tournament in Germany in April 1993. . . .

Only 19 when she was stabbed, Seles already had won eight Grand Slam tournaments, including seven of the previous eight she’d entered. . . .

She won only one more. . . .

Now that USC has renewed its lease with the Coliseum, Trojans football returns Friday to the aging landmark. . . .

Or, rather, USC futbol. . . .

Coach Ali Khosroshahin’s defending NCAA champion women’s soccer team takes on Mexico’s national team in an exhibition at 7 p.m. . . .

Coach Pete Carroll’s team, conducting an informational meeting for prospective walk-ons Monday at Heritage Hall, filled its roster with 27 non-scholarship players last season, eight of whom got into games for the Rose Bowl champions. . . .

Of UCLA’s 33 walk-ons last season, 12 played in games. . . .

UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel, of course, authored a walk-on story for the ages, making the improbable leap from non-scholarship scrub to starting quarterback to Rose Bowl MVP to, as of last month, undisputed leader of the program. . . .

Jeff Wald, promoter for Steve Forbes, e-mails to note that Forbes’ proposed fight against Oscar De La Hoya on May 3 at the Home Depot Center would be televised during an HBO “free weekend,” meaning that anyone with cable or satellite service would be able to watch the bout without subscribing. . . .

Only two NCAA Division I colleges have won national championships in either football, basketball or baseball in each of the last four decades, according to research by Aaron Charlton of Stats LLC. . . .

One is Oklahoma, which won national titles in football in 1974, 1975, 1985 and 2000 and was victorious at the College World Series in 1994. . . .

The other is Cal State Fullerton, which won baseball national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. . . .

Fullerton opens its 2008 season Friday at Texas Christian.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com