Since their first game of the 2023-24 men’s basketball season, the Oregon Ducks have been without their starting center and best player, N’Faly Dante, the only All-Conference player returning from the 2023 season.
After scoring 16 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in the Ducks season opener against Georgia, Dante injured his knee and required surgery. But there is a chance Dante will be back playing for Oregon soon.
In the Ducks’ Tuesday practice, Dante was seen participating for the first time since his injury. In media availability after practice, head coach Dana Altman said that how Dante’s body responds in the next few days will be telling of when he could play next.
“He did well, you know. The big key is how he does tomorrow,” Altman said. “We worked him a little bit yesterday, worked him a lot more today. Tomorrow’s our day off, so we wanted to give it a trial run. Thursday will be a big day to see how it responds.”
In Dante’s absence, the Ducks have substituted senior center Mahamadou Diawara, and they’ve also used a small lineup with 6’9″ freshman power forward Kwame Evans in the center spot, which has worked well. Since Dante’s injury, Oregon is 12-3 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-12.
Altman still thinks Dante will be able to reintegrate with the lineup quickly once he returns since he’s stayed in decent shape throughout his recovery.
“He’s kept himself in good shape,” Altman said. “You know, we have underwater treadmills. We have things where we can keep the pressure off, we’re fortunate for those facilities. You know, he’s not in great shape by any means, but he’s not totally out of shape. He watched what he ate a little bit, did some good things. The seven minutes he played today were really good.”
Dante could make his reappearance as early as Saturday in Oregon’s game against the California Golden Bears, who are in last place in the Pac-12. Cal doesn’t have a 7-footer on their roster, which could give Dante a good matchup for his return. If he doesn’t come back against Cal, his next opportunity is the Ducks game against the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday, January 18th, in Boulder, which is setting up to be one of the biggest games of the year up to this point.
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