The 2021-22 season for the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball season certainly fizzled, finally coming to an end on Saturday morning with a loss to Texas A&M in the second round of the NIT tournament.
The Ducks closed the regular season by losing 7 of their final 10 games, then proceeded to get bounced from the Pac-12 tournament in the second round, and were sent home from the NIT in the second round as well.
While they certainly didn’t play up to expectations, it was hard to ignore the absence of Will Richardson, the veteran guard who was their leading scorer this season. Richardson missed the season finale with a non-COVID illness and was forced to sit out the Pac 12 tournament and NIT as well.
After Saturday’s game, head coach Dana Altman finally opened up about the ailment that has sidelined his senior guard.
“I want people to know he’s fine. He finished the quarter, he’s in his room, he didn’t leave Eugene, he doesn’t have any stress problems, he just got sick,” said Dana Altman. “I hope that he can get this mono taken care of and get back to work.”
With Richardson missing so much time, and no confirmed reason other than an illness being given by the team, a lot of rumors started to pop up about what could be ailing him, whether it was stress or a lack of desire to finish out the season. Altman also addressed that on Saturday.
“In this era of social media, everyone wants to know everything, know everybody’s business,” Altman said. “Some people told me there was a lot of stuff. Rumors. Will finally allowed me to say he’s got mono. He started feeling poorly maybe as early as the Arizona game,” said Altman. “He didn’t want me to say anything and I didn’t. I talked to him last week and I said ‘I heard people were saying stress and he left the team.’ No. He just wanted to be left alone. You know WIll, he’s really quiet. He’s reserved. He didn’t want anyone knowing his business. I understand that.
“Will is a great young man…I know in this particular case he’s down. He wanted to help our team. He got sick. He’s dizzy, got headaches, and he was sick. He can’t play.”
Richardson has logged 4 seasons with the Ducks, but because of the extra year of eligibility that was given to athletes because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an opportunity for him to return to Eugene next season. Altman said he would welcome him back.
“I want Will to be happy. If Will wants to come back great if he wants to go and try and make it in the pros, great, if he wants to go somewhere else great. I want Will to be happy, just like I do with my other players,” said Altman. “I know if they are not all-in at Oregon, we’re not going to accomplish what we want to accomplish. I hope he comes back. I hope he comes back and gets in that weight room, works on his game, is the player that I know he is. He’s a good basketball player. His instincts are good, he’s a good defender. He’s a good basketball player.
“Whatever he wants to do, I’ll back him. If he’s tired of me, I understand that too. I just want him to be happy because I know if he’s happy and working his tail off, some really good things are going to happen.”
Over the next few weeks, we will watch to see if Richardson makes any indications that he might return, or head off to the next level.
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