The Oregon Ducks are losing N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard. Their leading scorers and their leaders. And while strong talent exists within the Ducks program, Dana Altman and his staff will likely have to bring in some pieces through the transfer portal, especially with a weak high school recruiting class in 2024.
Altman has long been known for his ability to bring in high-quality transfers and mold them into great role players.
In the words of CBS Sports’s Jon Rothstein, “he aligns Rubik’s Cubes.”
One player Altman will surely evaluate this offseason is Andrej Stojakovic, a Stanford Cardinal shooting guard who entered the transfer portal last month. Along with Texas and UCLA, Oregon was a finalist for Stojakovic during his initial recruitment, and for that reason, College Sports Wire named the Ducks as one of the top candidates to land Stojakovic.
Oregon was in the mix for Stojakovic alongside UCLA and Texas out of high school, and after a strong finish to the season and a NCAA Tournament win Dana Altman’s team has a little juice heading into the offseason.
The team will lose star big man N’Faly Dante to graduation, and likely second leading scorer Jermaine Couisnard as well unless he returns for a sixth year, and Stojakovic could fill a valuable role as a floor spacer while developing on a young team that could use more shooting and length on the perimeter.
Andrej is the son of former All-NBA forward Peja Stojakovic, who in a 13-year NBA career shot 40.1% from three-point range. Andrej is also renowned for his shooting ability, although he struggled a bit in his freshman year, shooting 32.7%.
Like Stojakovic, the Ducks struggled with three-point shooting this season, despite having talented shooters. If Oregon brings in Stojakovic, he could become a dangerous three-point weapon for the Ducks coming off the bench, since a season of college experience will likely have given him more consistency shooting the basketball.
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