Tag: Kelly Graves

Former Oregon Ducks guard Jennah Isai transfers to BYU

The Oregon Ducks lost another talented player to the transfer portal, with guard Jennah Isai heading to BYU for the 2023-24 season.

Heralded point guard Jennah Isai is leaving the Oregon Ducks program and heading to BYU, where she will be enrolling in January and eligible to play starting in the 2023-24 season – BYU’s first in the Big 12 Conference.

Isai appeared in 10 games for Kelly Graves’ team this year, averaging seven points, 3.2 rebounds, and two assists per game before departing the program due to “personal reasons” before Oregon’s matchup against Ohio State on December 20.

Isai was the 36th ranked prospect in the class of 2022 by ESPN, coming to Eugene out of Valley Vista High School in Surprise, Arizona.

Isai’s departure will challenge Oregon’s depth in the backcourt, where the team is currently led by Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao who are averaging 14.4 and 12.8 points, respectively.

It also continues a disturbing trend of players leaving Graves program, following the exodus of Taylor Bigby, Maddie Scherr, Sydney Parrish, and Kylee Watson during the previous offseason.

Despite the hardships, Oregon is 10-2 heading into a big home matchup against No. 10 UCLA on December 30.

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Oregon WBB recap: Ducks grow up with a big win over Spartans

The Oregon women’s basketball team played a complete game Sunday morning with an 86-78 win over Michigan State.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team had No. 8 North Carolina on the ropes, but they couldn’t close out the deal.

They closed the game this time.

Oregon defeated Michigan State 86-78 to grab third place in the PK Invitational in Portland Sunday morning. The Ducks showed why they will be a dangerous team to prepare for once the Pac-12 schedule comes into play.

Phillipina Kyei dominated on the inside with a career-high 15 points and 16 rebounds and Endyia Rogers led Oregon with 19 points on 5-of-8 from downtown.

The freshman Grace VanSlooten added 12 points and seven boards as Oregon shot nearly 54 percent from the field.

It was a nice win for the athletic department as a whole as the men’s basketball team has yet to win in the PK 85 and the football team lost in Corvallis yesterday. Oregon needed a win, any win, and Kelly Graves’ team got the job done Sunday morning.

Oregon WBB recap: Ducks’ upset bid vs UNC comes up short at PK85

North Carolina’s big third quarter and overall experience were too much for the Ducks to overcome in the 85-79 loss at the PK85.

Oregon Ducks women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves was concerned after his team’s close victory over Southern Utah a few days ago. He didn’t know how they would respond against stiffer competition.

Although the No. 18 Ducks came up short 85-79 to No. 8 North Carolina, the effort was definitely there and it’s a game the young Oregon team wins later in the season.

The Ducks held a double-digit lead in the second half, but a 17-4 run to end the third quarter brought the Tar Heels back and UNC actually had a 56-56 lead with 10 minutes to go.

Coming out for the fourth quarter, the Ducks went on a 10-2 run and had a 66-58 lead, but then North Carolina’s experience took over and the shots for the Ducks stopped dropping. Those 18 turnovers didn’t help matters as Oregon lost for the first time this season.

11 things that Oregon Duck fans should be most thankful for in 2022

What are you most thankful for as an Oregon Duck fan as we get into this holiday season?

Last year when we checked in on the Oregon Ducks’ world of sports during Thanksgiving time, things weren’t looking so great. The football team had just suffered the first of two blowout losses to the Utah Utes, falling from their No. 3 spot in the nation; the No. 9 men’s basketball team was quickly exposed as fraudulent; the women’s basketball team was tanking in the standings after back-to-back losses as the No. 12 team in the nation.

Of course, things didn’t get much better from there, either. Oregon’s football team went on to get blown out in the Pac-12 title game by Utah again and watched as their head coach Mario Cristobal jetted to warmer weather. Dana Altman failed to align the Rubik’s Cube and missed the NCAA Tournament. Kelly Graves had his squad competitive, but nowhere near as good as we expected going into the year.

By comparison, the Ducks sure do have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

Not only did the football program bounce back in a magnificent fashion with an up-and-coming head coach that looks to be among the best young signal-callers in the nation, but Altman and Graves also have things rolling in the right direction on the hardwood.

On top of the tangible success, Oregon is still Oregon, and Phil Knight is still the greatest Uncle in the world. The Ducks have some of the best facilities, best uniforms, best coaches, and best players in the nation, and routinely are in the conversation among the best teams across all sports.

So on this Thanksgiving Day, as we gather with friends and family, we thought it would be nice to reflect on what Oregon fans should be the most thankful for this year. Here’s what we came up with:

Oregon WBB recap: Ducks take first SWAC legacy series matchup

Oregon’s size and talent overwhelmed Southern in a 37-point road win to improve to 3-0.

Kelly Graves’ halftime talk must have been about defense because the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team’s effort on that end of the floor ratcheted up a notch or two in the third quarter.

The Ducks went on an 18-0 run to start the second half and cruised to an 83-46 win over Southern. The trip to Baton Rouge is part of the scheduling agreement between the Pac-12 and the SWAC in both men’s and women’s basketball.

Oregon’s size and overall talent overwhelmed the Jaguars, who fell to 0-3 this year. No one can accuse Southern in scheduling cupcakes. They lost to No. 4 Iowa and No. 8 Iowa State before this loss to the No. 21 Ducks.

Southern was held to just 34 percent from the field on 18-of-53 shooting. The Ducks had their best shooting night of the season going 29-of-56 (51.8 percent), including 11-of-30 from long range.

Ahlise Hurst led the Ducks with 15 points on five three-pointers.

Oregon WBB recap: Freshmen lead the way in rout over Seattle U

Oregon women’s basketball used a big second half to rout Seattle 90-47 for their second win of the season.

It’s a busy day of sports on the University Oregon campus and the Ducks women’s basketball team got off to a good start with a 90-47 win over Seattle.

Later in the day, rugby hosts Washington and then the biggie comes at Autzen Stadium with the No. 6 Ducks face No. 23 Washington in the Pac-12 game of the week.

Inside Matthew Knight Arena, Kelly Graves’ team started slowly, but after 15 minutes of play, Oregon picked it up to blow out the Redhawks. Perhaps it was the 11 a.m. tip time and the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet.

Once the caffeine settled in, so did the Ducks. They overwhelmed the RedHawks and outscored the visitors 48-22 in the second half.

Freshmen Grace VanSlooten and Jennah Isai led the way with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Sabrina Ionescu becomes Director of Athletic Culture on WBB staff

Oregon women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves announced Sabrina Ionescu will be joining his staff on a part-time basis in a new role.

It was only a matter of time before the best women’s basketball player to come back home to Oregon.

Coach Kelly Graves announced on Friday that Sabrina Ionescu would join his staff part-time to become the Director of Athletic Culture.

“There is no better person I could think of for this position than Sabrina,” Graves said. “Sabrina exemplifies what it means to be an Oregon Duck and she represents everything our program is about. Even in just a part-time capacity, she will have the ability to make an immediate impact on our student-athletes and our program as a whole. She truly is a basketball icon that will be able to connect and develop our players off the court.”

In her part-time role, Ionescu will help develop student-athletes and cultivate Graves’ five pillars of Oregon women’s basketball: passion, integrity, unity, thankfulness, and servanthood. Additionally, she will be a resource and example for current, former, and future Ducks.

Ionescu has another job as the guard for the WNBA’s New York Liberty, but in the off-season, she’ll be Eugene in a new capacity.

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Oregon WBB recap: The Ducks send Northwestern packing in season opener

It was successful season opener for Kelly Graves’ Oregon women’s basketball team with a 43-point win over Northwestern.

Oregon women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves keeps saying that he’s really excited for the 2022-23 season. Now we know why.

The Ducks completely dismantled a fairly decent Northwestern team out of the Big Ten 100-57 in the season opener for both teams. Freshman Grace VanSlooten led Oregon with 20 points.

The 6-foot-3 forward surely didn’t look like she was playing her very first college game. VanSlooten was 10-of-16 from the field. Fellow freshman Jennah Isai also wasn’t exactly shy in her debut. She added 15 points and Te-Hina Paopao lit up the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Freshman guard Chance Gray, a five-star and top-10 recruit, scored 14 points in her Duck debut.

Oregon is still adjusting without its power forward Sedona Prince, who injured her elbow and has decided to move on to a professional career. That means players such as 6-foot-8 Phillipina Kyei will see more playing time and so far, so good for the sophomore center. She added eight points and eight boards.

The Ducks shot 36-of-68 (53 percent) from the field and held the Wildcats to just 36 percent on 22-of-61 shooting. Caleigh Walsh led Northwestern with 15 points.

Kelly Graves lands commitment from 2023 4-star Samantha Wagner

The Oregon Ducks landed a commitment from 4-star wing Samantha Wagner, the No. 42 player in the 2023 class.

As of late, a lot of the narrative in Oregon sports is about the recruiting power that Dan Lanning and Dana Altman possess. Kelly Graves is here to let you know that he’s still got some of the best chops in the nation.

After landing the No. 2 ranked class in the nation in the 2022 cycle, Graves is quickly building up the 2023 class, landing a commitment from 4-star wing Samantha Wagner.

According to ESPN’s rankings, Wagner is the No. 42 ranked player in the 2023 class. She will join both 4-star Sofia Bell out of Jesuit, Oregon, and 4-star Sarah Rombus, out of IMG Academi in Florida.

This success for Graves on the recruiting trail is coming a year after he signed 5-star Chance Gray, the No. 7 player and No. 2 PG in the nation, as well as 5-star Grace VanSlooten, the No. 13 player and No. 4 PF in the nation. Oregon also added 4-star Jennah Assai and 4-star Kennedy Basham to the 2022 class as well.

The Ducks will get their season started next week with a home opener against the Northwestern Wildcats at 3 p.m. PT.

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BREAKING: Sedona Prince will undergo season-ending surgery, ending Oregon career

According to a release from the team, Prince “has chosen to leave school to focus on rehabilitation and recovery with elbow specialists.”

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team suffered a blow on Friday morning with the announcement that veteran center Sedona Prince would undergo season-ending surgery on her elbow that will end her career with the team.

Prince, a redshirt senior, entered the year with only one remaining year of eligibility at the college level, and the team says that she will exhaust that remaining year to focus on pursuing a professional career.

According to a release from the team, Prince “has chosen to leave school to focus on rehabilitation and recovery with elbow specialists.”

“I’m heartbroken,” stated Prince in a release from the team. “I truly felt that this was the year I could showcase my work ethic and skills on the court, but also my self-growth and leadership ability. I tried to push through the injury and be there for my team, but after extensive evaluation from the best doctors in the world and looking deep inside myself at my passions and goals, I know that I have to take care my elbow now in order to ensure long-term health and a sustained professional career.  As an elite athlete, current entrepreneur, and future wave maker I pride myself on creating and continuing to drive impact in everything I do. Not being able to play with my teammates this year is painful and tragic for me.  However, I’m so grateful for the entire community of Eugene for their continued support and inspiration to always push forward through adversity. After all, pressure is a privilege.”

Prince was in line for a big final season with the Ducks, being voted to the Pac-12 preseason all-conference team for the third consecutive season.

According to the team, Friday will mark Prince’s final appearance in a Duck uniform, as she will be honored prior to Oregon’s exhibition contest against Carroll College at 6 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.

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