Tag: Dana Altman

Tom Izzo joins roundtable discussion with fellow Big Ten coaches at annual media day

Tom Izzo, Mike Rhoades, and Dana Altman participated in a roundtable at the Big Ten media days

Michigan State basketball is almost officially back, as signaled by the return of the annual Big Ten basketball media days, which took place on Thursday.

During the event, MSU’s legendary head coach Tom Izzo was able to sit down with Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades and Oregon (yes, Oregon, in case you forgot, they are now in the Big Ten, and play MSU Saturday in football) head coach Dana Altman to tackle a wealth of topics.

You can watch the full video below:

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Oregon and Oregon State men’s basketball lock in a home-and-home series

The Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers have scheduled a multi-year non-conference series between their men’s basketball teams.

One of the biggest consequences of conference realignment is how it affects the traditions and rivalries that have defined college athletics for decades. Following the Oregon Ducks move to the Big Ten, the Cascade Clashes between the Ducks and the Washington Huskies will be preserved, but battles with the Ducks’ in-state rival, the Oregon State Beavers, aren’t guaranteed.

But despite what seems to be constant conference realignment, individual teams and athletic departments are working to maintain the rivalries that are integral to college sports. Jon Rothstein reported on Tuesday that the Oregon and Oregon State men’s basketball teams have locked in a “multi-year series,” starting this season in Corvallis

Since Oregon is now a member of the Big Ten and the Beavers are still in the Pac-12, this won’t be a conference matchup, and it will likely occur near the beginning of the season. This agreement won’t take everything about this rivalry back to normal, but it’s a big step.

The Beavers did not have a fantastic team in 2023, and they likely won’t improve much in 2024, but compared to the Ducks’ usual non-conference opponents, Oregon State is a step up. The March Madness selection committee values the non-conference strength of schedule when selecting bubble teams, which could be important for Oregon.

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Mookie Cook and Nate Bittle cleared for all basketball activities

Oregon Ducks men’s basketball players Mookie Cook and Nate Bittle have been cleared for all basketball activities.

In the middle of the Oregon Ducks appearance on Big Ten football’s media days, Oregon Ducks men’s basketball received some good news: senior center Nate Bittle and freshman wing Mookie Cook have been cleared for all basketball activities, according to a report from Jon Rothstein.

Last season, Bittle was kept out for most of the first half of the season with a wrist injury, and shortly after his return, he contracted an illness that hindered him for months and kept him off the court for the rest of the year. Cook needed surgery at the start of the 2023 season and then was reinjured four games after his debut.

Both players were expected to return by the start of the season in November, but receiving clean bills of health in July will help them tremendously come November.

Cook and Bittle could both be major impact players for Oregon this season. With N’Faly Dante’s eligibility waiver request being denied, Bittle is the Ducks’ most talented and experienced center. Oregon head coach Dana Altman likes to run his offense through his big men, so Bittle could be touching the ball a lot.

Cook’s role is harder to predict since he has just four games of college experience. But with Jermaine Couisnard not returning in the fall, the Ducks will need a strong two-way wing, whether he comes off the bench or starts. This year, I don’t see Cook cracking the starting five, but I think he’ll be a valuable member of the second unit.

4-star SF Winters Grady schedules official visit with Ducks

Winters Grady, a 4-star small forward in the class of 2025, has scheduled an official visit with the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team.

Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team keep gaining momentum on the recruiting trail. After already securing a commitment from 4-star shooting guard Jamari Phillips and locking down multiple recruiting visits this month, the Ducks have added another blue-chip prospect to their visitor list: Winters Grady.

Grady is a 4-star small forward, ranked as the No. 13 SF in the class of 2025, standing tall at six feet six inches. His height makes him a dangerous shooter, but his leaner frame at 185 pounds gives him plenty of mobility on the wing as well.

On Wednesday, Grady made some moves in his recruiting process, scheduling official visits with the Oregon Ducks and the Oklahoma Sooners according to Joe Tipton of On3Sports. Grady only received an offer from Oregon two weeks ago, so it seems he is excited by the prospect of being a Duck. He also holds offers from Creighton, Michigan, and others.

Grady plays his high school basketball at Prolific Prep, a school in Napa, California, but originally, he’s from Lake Oswego, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. Coming to Eugene for college would certainly be a homecoming for him, which could make Oregon more enticing.

Granted, it’s early in the recruiting cycle, but so far, the Ducks have zero commitments from the class of 2025, and after a sub-par 2024 recruiting class (made worse by the decommitment of Vyctorious Miller) Oregon may need some big swings in 2025. If the Ducks can impress Grady on his official visit, it could go a long way.

Report: N’Faly Dante’s appeal is denied, ending his college career

The NCAA has officially ended N’Faly Dante’s college basketball career by denying his appeal for an extra year of eligibility.

It was a long shot, but the Ducks were hoping for a miracle anyway.

According to CBS reporter Jon Rothstein, the NCAA has denied N’Faly Dante’s appeal for a sixth season of college basketball. His original case for an extra season was denied late last month, but now with all of his options exhausted, Dante’s college basketball career is now over.

He was looking for an injury hardship waiver since he played in just 12 games in 2019-20 and only six more in 2020-21. Oregon was hopeful since similar cases around the country were upheld, but Dante wasn’t as fortunate.

It would have been a huge boost for the 2024-25 Oregon Ducks basketball team to retain Dante for one more season as they would have been Final Four possibilities with the 7-foot center in the lineup. He had a career season last year as he averaged 17 points a game and 9.2 rebounds.

Dana Altman will lead what is still a very talented squad next season in their first year as a member in the Big Ten Conference.

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Report: Former Arizona signee Jamari Phillips commits to Oregon

After decommitting from Arizona, four-star shooting guard Jamari Phillips signs with Dana Altman and the Ducks.

The season is still five months away, but Dana Altman is always on the lookout for more talent and the 2024-25 roster just got a lot more talented.

According to On3.com, Oregon just received a commitment from four-star shooting guard Jamari Phillipsout of Glendale, Ariz.

This is a big change as Phillips has been an Arizona commit since 2022, but reopened his recruitment just last week. It didn’t take long for the Ducks to swoop in and sign the 6-foot-3 wing player.

He has a 93 rating on 247sports.com and a 0.9816 player composite on the site as well.

Phillips change of heart might have come about when Arizona’s superstar guard Caleb Love announced he would skip the NBA draft and return to Tucson for one more season. No doubt Phillips’ playing time as a freshman would have drastically been less than he thought.

Report: Ducks to open next men’s basketball season with UC-Riverside

Oregon is expected to open the 2024-25 men’s basketball season with the UC-Riverside Highlanders Nov. 4.

With the Ducks entering the Big Ten Conference this next season, Dana Altman said he wanted to cut the travel time by scheduling as many West Coast non-conference games as possible.

They won’t have to travel for the 2024-25 season opener as the Ducks are going to host UC-Riverside in early November, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

The Highlanders, out of the Big West, finished 16-18 overall last season and a 10-10 conference record.

Oregon is expected to be one of the contenders to win the Big Ten next year as the conference welcomes in not only the Ducks, but USC, UCLA and Washington. The roster is strong, talented and deep even without N’Faly Dante, who lost is appeal for an extra season of eligibility.

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Oregon basketball stand near top of early Big Ten Conference rankings for 2024-25

CBS Sports has already published its “way too early” predictions for Big Ten men’s basketball for the 2024-25 season.

This upcoming 2024-25 season in all sports is going to be a strange one and it’s going to take a while to get used to.

Oregon is set to officially join the Big Ten Conference on July 1 and the Ducks are going to have a new set of opponents and rivals to play.

With that comes some weird predictions from media outlets that will look out of sorts. Even the graphics look out of place. But it’s the new world of college athletics.

In CBSsports’ “way too early” predictions for the Big Ten men’s basketball season, writer Isaac Trotter published his first power rankings six months before the season and of course, he says that traditional Big Ten power of UCLA will win its new league in the very first season.

Trotter has the Ducks finishing fourth in the new 18-team league with Indiana and Purdue second and third, respectively.

According to the rankings, it could be a rough adjustment for Washington and USC, however. The Huskies are expected to finish 14th and the Trojans 15th.

But the season is so far away that the phrase “way too early” definitely applies here. It should be a fun season on the hardwood and it can’t get here quick enough.

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Men’s basketball announces Big Ten opponents for 2024-25 season

We don’t know the exact schedule for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season, but we do know the Big Ten opponents

A new team, a new court and new opponents.

That will be the theme for the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball program for the 2024-25 season as they head into the Big Ten Conference.

The court inside Matthew Knight Arena is also getting a makeover and we now know what conference opponents will be playing on it next season.

Oregon has announced which Big Ten teams will be visiting MKA.

Unfortunately those teams not coming to Eugene will be Michigan and Ohio State. The Ducks will be traveling to those places as well as going to Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Wisconsin.

Those teams who are coming to Oregon will be Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. The Ducks will also have a home-and-home with rivals Washington, USC and UCLA.

The exact dates and the non-conference schedule is slated to come out in the next few months.

Oregon Ducks get commitment from Toledo guard transfer Ra’Heim Moss

Dana Altman’s 2024-25 roster is coming together after the addition of former Toledo guard Ra’Heim Moss.

The roster is really starting to come together for Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks, with a big piece being added on Monday morning.

Former Toledo guard Ra’Heim Moss announced that he would be joining the Ducks for the 2024-25 season in Eugene, their first as members of the Big Ten. Moss averaged a career-best 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists last year, and has one more year of eligibility remaining.

Moss brings some solid shooting to the table, having averaged 46.2% from the field during his career, plus 30.8% from deep and 75.3% from the line.

Moss is the second addition that the Ducks have made via the transfer portal after adding former Stanford big man Brandon Angel earlier in the month. Oregon is also reportedly waiting to hear back from the NCAA in regards to an appeal that all-conference center N’Faly Dante submitted earlier this month, looking to get one more year of eligibility.

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