Oregon's Mark Michaelis, left, Luke Ridnour, center, and Ben Lindquist watch from the bench in the final moments of a loss in the NCAA Midwest Regional final against Kansas on March 24, 2002. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

He has a flair for the dramatic on the basketball court. And his hair, well, it just has flair. His name is Luke, but he goes by Rid. He's Luke Ridnour, Oregon's All-America candidate at point guard whom Cincinnati will face Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at East Rutherford, N.J.

Already this season, Ridnour has earned a Pac-10 player-of-the-week award and has the Ducks ranked No.5 in the nation. Earlier this week, Ridnour took time out from combing his golden locks to answer five questions from the Enquirer's Dustin Dow:

Q: First of all, what's with the hair?

A: The hair is something I've always grown out. But my dad made me cut it in high school for games because he was my coach. Finally, in college, I grew it out and left it that way. He doesn't say much about it now.

Q: Who's got better hair, you or teammate Luke Jackson?

A: Oh, I do by far. No contest. I've got the natural curls going.

Q: You play for Nike founder Phil Knight's school. How many pairs of Nike shoes do you own?

A: Man, I've got a lot of shoes. Tons of them. I like to collect them. I'd say I've got 75 to 80 pairs, probably.

Q: Do you have a favorite pair?

A: Yeah, I've got these retro Bo Jacksons that I really like. They're yellow and gray.

Q: How sweet was it to take revenge on Kansas?

A: That was a big win just for our program. They put us out last year (in the NCAA Tournament). And we hadn't played any big-name teams yet this year, so that was nice to beat them, because they put us out, and any time you lose the last game of the year, it's going to sit with you longer all summer and make you want to win more when you play them.