Tag: All-Pac-12

14 Ducks earn preseason All-Pac-12 honors ahead of 2023 season

14 Ducks earn preseason All-Pac-12 honors ahead of 2023 season

The Oregon Ducks are not short of talent heading into the 2023 college football season, by any means.

With the Pac-12 media day coming on Friday in Las Vegas, fans are getting set for predictions on season-end awards and eagerly anticipating a chance to hear from all of the top coaches and players in the conference. As a lead-up to the day, the Pac-12 released their preseason All-Conference teams, predicting which players will have the biggest impacts in the coming months.

The Ducks have a total of 14 players who were represented, with RB Bucky Irving and DL Brandon Dorlus making the first team. Safety Evan Williams and K Camden Lewis made the second team as well. On top of that, there were a total of 10 Ducks who earned honorable mention honors:

  • QB Bo Nix
  • WR Troy Franklin
  • TE Terrance Ferguson
  • OL Jackson Powers-Johnson
  • OL Josh Conerly
  • OL Ajani Cornelius
  • EDGE Jordan Burch
  • LB Jeffrey Bassa
  • S Steve Stephens IV
  • CB Nikko Reed

It will be interesting to see how many of these predictions end up coming true once the season comes to an end, and if the Ducks can get any more players on the year-end All-Conference team when all is said and done.

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2023 preseason All-Pac-12 second-team offense revealed

A number of the #USC players on the preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team should frankly be on the first team.

The preseason All-Pac-12 teams were announced on Tuesday. USC’s Caleb Williams, Dorian Singer, and Calen Bullock all made the first team, and that’s great. However, a number of Trojans didn’t make the first team. The most conspicuous omissions came along the offensive line. Not one Trojan offensive lineman made All-Pac-12 First Team. That’s ridiculous.

If you have been reading Athlon Sports, you might know that the venerable college sports publication identified USC center Justin Dedich as one of the Pac-12’s top 20 players for the upcoming season, slotting him in at No. 19.

We noted about Dedich:

“Dedich is at No. 19. His decision to come back for one more season was huge. Brett Neilon and Andrew Vorhees are gone, but Dedich gives this line veteran experience and someone Caleb Williams fully trusts. If Dedich remains healthy, this offensive line should be very strong in 2023.”

Dedich is one of a few USC Trojans on the All-Pac-12 Second Team who should frankly be on the first team.

Below is the All-Pac-12 Second Team offense for the 2023 Pac-12 season:

Dante is Ducks’ first center in 37 years on All-Pac-12 First Team

N’Faly Dante is on the All-Conference First Team, the first Oregon center since 1986 to receive the honor.

Senior center N’Faly Dante has been named to the All-Pac-12 First Team, the conference announced today.

The Oregon 7-foot center averaged team highs in points (13.5), rebounds (8.2), blocks (1.4), and field goal percentage (.642) this season, along with 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He ranked second in the conference in field goal percentage and his career average of over 64 percent is the best in school history.

Dante’s points, rebounds, and blocks averages were all career-bests, improving his points per game by more than five points and his rebounds by two.

In 2022-23, the Bamako, Mali native recorded nine double-doubles, including four in the last five games where the Ducks went 3-2 and winning their final three games of the regular season. Dante grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds on the road against Oregon State, most by a Ducks player since Chris Boucher had 19 in 2016. In the regular season finale, Dante had a career-high-tying five blocks against Stanford, two of which were in the final two minutes of the game to help seal the win.

Dante is the first Oregon player to be named to the first team since Chris Duarte and Eugene Omoruyi in 2019, and is the first true center to earn the distinction since Jerry Adams in 1986. Teammate Will Richardson was named all-conference honorable mention with 12.5 points, 5.2 assists (second in the conference), and 3.5 rebounds per game this season.

ALL-PAC-12 TEAM

FIRST TEAM

  • Oumar Ballo, Arizona, C, R-Jr., Koulikoro, Mali
  • Tyger Campbell***, UCLA, G, R-Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  • Branden Carlson, Utah, C, Sr., South Jordan, Utah
  • N’Faly Dante, Oregon, C, Sr., Bamako, Mali
  • Tristan da Silva, Colorado, F, Jr., Munich, Germany
  • Boogie Ellis, USC, G, Sr., San Diego, Calif.
  • Mouhamed Gueye, Washington State, F, So., Dakar, Senegal
  • Jaime Jaquez Jr.**, UCLA, G/F, Sr., Camarillo, Calif.
  • Drew Peterson**, USC, G, 5th, Libertyville, Ill.
  • Ąžuolas Tubelis**, Arizona, F, Jr., Vilnius, Lithuania

SECOND TEAM

  • Keion Brooks Jr., Washington, F, Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind.
  • Desmond Cambridge Jr., Arizona State, G, 5th, Nashville, Tenn.
  • Jaylen Clark, UCLA, G, Jr., Riverside, Calif.
  • Spencer Jones, Stanford, F, Sr., Roeland Park, Kan.
  • KJ Simpson, Colorado, G, So., West Hills, Calif.

HONORABLE MENTION (receiving at least three votes):

  • TJ Bamba, WSU
  • Adem Bona, UCLA
  • Courtney Ramey, ARIZ
  • Will Richardson, OR

* denotes number of All-Pac-12 First Team honors

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3 Oregon Ducks named to Women’s Basketball All Pac-12 Team

Three Oregon Ducks, Te-Hina Paopao, Endyia Rogers, and Nyara Sabally, were named to the All Pac-12 team – each for the second year in a row.

The Pac-12 announced their end of the season awards and all-conference honors for women’s basketball on Tuesday, and three Oregon Ducks were named to the All Pac-12 team.

Guard Te-Hina Paopao, guard Endyia Rogers, and forward Nyara Sabally were all part of the 15 person team, which tied Stanford for the most representatives from a single school.

Paopao, Rogers, and Sabally are all two time selections as well, having each made the All Pac-12 team during the 2020-21 season – Paopao and Sabally with the Ducks, while Rogers earned the recognition while with the USC Trojans.

Oregon’s dynamic trio is averaging just under 43 points per game combined on the year. The Ducks are the only team in the Pac-12 with three players averaging over 13 points per game this year, and all three are inside the top 15 in the conference in scoring.

While the Ducks didn’t take home any individual hardware, they did have a representative – sophomore Maddie Scherr – earn honorable mention All-Defensive Team honors after she averaged 1.5 steals per game.

Oregon’s overall season hasn’t quite gone according to plan under coach Kelly Graves, but there is obviously no shortage of talent in Eugene – and Sedona Price’s return next season, along with the additions of 5-star recruits Grace Vanslooten and Chance Gray –  will further help this team return to glory in 2022-23.

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Will Richardson named to the preseason all-conference First Team

Will Richardson was named to the preseason all-conference First Team for the second straight year.

Having the best point guard in the conference can only help any team, but when it comes to the Oregon Ducks, it should propel them to go deep into March.

Oregon point guard Will Richardson was named to the preseason all-Pac-12 First Team for the second straight season. He was the only Duck on the first team, but newcomers Quincy Guerrier and De’Vion Harmon are on the second team.

Richardson had a breakout season last year in his first chance to finally be the starting point guard. The left-hander averaged 11.3 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per contest and led Oregon to a regular-season Pac-12 title and all the way to the Sweet 16 before USC ended its tournament run with an overall record of 21-7.

More of the same is expected in Richardson’s senior season as Oregon has reloaded with such transfers like Guerrier and Harmon, as well as big men N’Faly Dante, Franck Kepnang, and freshman Nathan Bittle.

Oregon begins its season Nov. 9 with a home game against Texas Southern.