Wooden You Just Know It? : College basketball: O’Bannon wraps up a Hollywood season by winning award named for former Bruin coach.

Ed O’Bannon’s parents were there. So was his coach. So was his coach’s mentor. So were assorted college basketball royalty. About the only no-show for Friday’s John R. Wooden Award announcement was O’Bannon’s close, personal and constant companion of the last several weeks.

His video camera.

“The battery’s low,� O’Bannon said. “I couldn’t bring it. It’s the worst time for that to happen.�

You’d need recharging too, if you were O’Bannon’s hand-cam these days. In the past week, that lucky little viewfinder has seen the Bruins win a national title, mingle with Jay Leno, do the Main Street parade thing at Disneyland, unfurl a championship banner at Pauley Pavilion and be toasted by dignitaries.

Too bad it couldn’t be there Friday afternoon when O’Bannon stepped to the podium at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and nervously accepted the 19th annual Wooden Award, presented to the nation’s best college player.

Moments earlier, Wooden had stood at the same podium and playfully tried to inject some drama into the announcement. The legendary former Bruin coach glanced at one side of the dais and the other as the envelope was opened.

“Ed . . . ,� he said, leaning over and looking at the UCLA senior forward, “Ed O’Bannon.�

O’Bannon stood and gave Wooden a gentle hug and then was pointed toward center stage. Once there, he thanked Wooden and then his Bruin teammates.

“It’s a great honor for me . . . ,� he said, before accidentally snapping off one of the microphones attached to the podium. “Uh, I’m just a little nervous here.�

He recovered. As someone re-attached the microphone, O’Bannon told the audience: “Big Country brings down backboards, I bring down microphones.�

The comment, referring to the backboard-breaking performance at a Final Four practice session by Oklahoma State star Bryant Reeves, promptly brought down the house.

O’Bannon, long since recovered from reconstructive knee surgery, is the second UCLA player to earn a Wooden Award. Marques Johnson won in the award’s inaugural year, 1977, but no Bruin has seriously challenged for player-of-the-year honors since then.

“In my opinion, this is the ultimate award,� said O’Bannon, who averaged 20.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game this season, including a 30-point, 17-rebound performance against Arkansas in the NCAA championship game.

A close vote it wasn’t. O’Bannon received 4,396 points, followed by Michigan State guard Shawn Respert (3,247), Wake Forest guard Randolph Childress (3,224), North Carolina forward Jerry Stackhouse (2,887) and Arkansas forward Corliss Williamson (2,511).

Williamson was the only top-five finalist who did not attend. A day earlier, Arkansas officials had told Wooden organizers that the junior forward was too “emotionally and physically drained.� Instead, a videotaped message from both Williamson and Razorback Coach Nolan Richardson was sent.

Turns out that Williamson stayed home so he could announce his decision to make himself available for the June 28 NBA draft.

Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Stackhouse, who did make the cross-country trip, faces a similar decision. The sophomore forward said after Saturday’s loss in the Final Four semifinals that he “definitely� planned to return to Chapel Hill, but later added that he was keeping his options open.

“Nothing’s changed,� Stackhouse said Friday.

Asked when he would make a decision, Stackhouse said: “At the very last, at the very last.�

O’Bannon, a lottery pick waiting to happen, has no such worries. He’ll get his history degree in June and a speed course in economics after the NBA draft. Until then, O’Bannon wants to enjoy every sweet second of a week he’ll never forget.

“I’m still kind of on a high,� he said. “We’re all kind of milking it.�

Minutes later, he was off to do a television interview. Figures. A minicam.