ATLANTA — All season, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s father had given his son a promise.

If the Bruins made it to the Final Four, Luc’s father, Camille Moute a Bidias, would travel from Cameroon to Atlanta to see his son play for the first time.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, that will no longer happen.

“He is sick, and the doctors told him that he can’t fly,” Mbah a Moute said. “I talked to him earlier in the week, and he can’t travel for a couple of weeks.”

Moute a Bidias, who is the king of his province in Yaounde, Cameroon, had surgery on his eye earlier this week, and traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, for the operation.

Moute a Bidias did not even tell his son the extent of his illness to make sure that Luc would be able to focus fully on this weekend’s games.

“That’s the type of father he is,” coach Ben Howland said. “I’m sure Luc is disappointed, but I don’t envision that it would be good for his father to be flying in a plane right after his surgery.”

Mbah a Moute and fellow Cameroonian forward Alfred Aboya are the only two players in the Bruins’ main rotation that are not from the Southern California area.

Unlike players such as Josh Shipp, Darren Collison and Arron Afflalo, who have large traveling parties on the Bruins’ road trips, Mbah a Moute and Aboya don’t have their parents there to talk to them after UCLA’s games.

“It’s difficult; I can only imagine,” Afflalo said. “It’s really important to have that support system, but both Luc and Alfred have dealt with it well.”

Moute a Bidias and Mbah a Moute’s mother, Agnes Goufane Ziem, both have traveled to Westwood to visit their son, but Camille Moute a Bidias has never seen his son play, not even during Luc’s high school playing days in Monteverde, Florida.

“I’m not disappointed, because I know he will have plenty of other chances to see me play,” Mbah a Moute said. “It just happened that he couldn’t come and watch me play.”

Mbah a Moute, however, will have his older brother, Amiel, in attendance.

Luc has five brothers, including a younger brother who plays for UC Santa Barbara.

Despite the fact that the rest of his family members won’t be in attendance, Mbah a Moute said the Final Four is broadcast in Cameroon, and his family will be able to watch from home.

HOWLAND MAKES IT: During Friday’s walk-around at the Georgia Dome, the Bruins followed their season-long tradition of taking half-court shots at the end of practice.

For the first time all season, Howland was successful on his half-court shot.

“1-for-39 or 40 is not a very good percentage,” Howland said. “But I know the players enjoy it, and it’s just a kind of tradition that we have established.

“It’s pretty unbelievable with the high percentage that some of our players make the shot.”

PAULEY PRACTICE: Due to Pauley Pavilion being closed this week for the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, the Bruins were forced to practice at an undisclosed site prior to leaving for Atlanta on Wednesday.

The Bruins took a Delta charter plane from LAX Wednesday morning, and there were UCLA fans at the airport to cheer them on as they left.

WOODEN: After traveling to Lousiville, Kentucky, for the McDonald’s All-American game earlier this week, legendary Bruin coach John Wooden, now 96 years old, will not be traveling to Atlanta to see the Bruins in the Final Four.

Wooden was required to watch last year’s Final Four from a hospital bed, and he said that traveling to Lousiville and Atlanta in the same week would be too much traveling for him.