It’s been a rough few seasons for Kelly Graves and the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team. This year’s Ducks ended the season on a 14-game losing streak, won just 11 games all season, and for the second year in a row, Graves lost all of his top players to the transfer portal.
But at last, Graves and the Ducks have won a round in the transfer portal by picking up Deja Kelly, a fifth-year senior guard who earned All-ACC honors three times at North Carolina.
Kelly’s strong season with the Tar Heels, a season in which she averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, came to a disappointing end. For the second year in a row, UNC was knocked out in the second round of the NCAA tournament, this time in an 88-41 rout by the South Carolina Gamecocks, the eventual national champions.
After the damage the transfer portal has done to Oregon’s roster, Kelly is coming to a team in a desperate search for a best player, and with her college experience, Kelly leading the Ducks’ backcourt seems like a natural role for her to fill.
When she gets the ball in her hands, Kelly is always looking for ways to score, whether it’s with a drive to the rim or a jump shot she creates for herself. Her 16.3 points per game in 2023-24 is an impressive number, but she didn’t score with efficiency, shooting 34.6% from the field in 2023-24, which is, hopefully, something she can improve for her final season at Oregon.
Kelly isn’t the only transfer Graves has brought in this offseason, and she will fill the 15th and final roster spot on next year’s team. Another exciting transfer addition for Oregon is Alexis Whitfield, a 6’2″ forward who averaged 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game at Santa Barbara last season, and she is a potential pick-and-roll partner for Kelly.