Tag: oregon basketball

Oregon named as top school for Villanova transfer guard TJ Bamba

TJ Bamba, a fifth-year senior guard in the transfer portal, has named the Oregon Ducks as one of his top six schools.

After losing several key rotation players to the transfer portal, Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team now have a chance to bring in a key piece from the portal. According to a report from 24/7 High School Hoops, TJ Bamba, a fifth-year senior guard, has narrowed his search to six schools, one of which is Oregon.

Since the end of the 2023-24 season, the Ducks have lost guards Kario Oquendo and Brennan Risgby to the transfer portal, and Vyctorious Miller, an incoming recruit, was released from his letter of intent. Oregon is also losing star guard Jermaine Couisnard this offseason since he is out of eligibility, leaving the Ducks without much guard depth.

Bamba has experience playing on the West Coast. Before transferring to Villanova last season, Bamba played three seasons with the Washington State Cougars. With the Wildcats last year, Bamba was second in scoring, averaging 10.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. All four years of Bamba’s college career have been full seasons, leaving him with just his Covid-year of eligibility.

At 6’5″ and 208 lbs., Bamba has good size for a guard, which helps him get downhill and finish through contact at the rim. Bamba also shoots the ball efficiently from the perimeter, especially when moving off the ball, looking for catch-and-shoot attempts.

One of the guards who is returning for Oregon in the fall is Jackson Shelstad, who already seems like the Ducks’ next star. As a freshman, Shelstad averaged 12.8 points per game and scored 20+ points five times. If Bamba chooses Oregon, he and Shelstad could be a dangerous duo in the backcourt, especially with Bamba’s affinity for moving off the ball to get open for threes.

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Oregon’s ugly basketball court no longer exists, will be replaced

Oregon fans, Pac-12 fans, and college hoop fans are happy to see Oregon’s ‘Deep In The Woods’ court get removed.

The Oregon Ducks are “Deep In The Woods” in Eugene, but those four words call to mind one of the ugliest college basketball courts in the country. Thankfully, that court design will be relegated to the history books. It is no more. Oregon’s men’s basketball tweeted a picture of the court design being removed, indicating a change will soon take place.

Ducks Wire has more on this story:

“When all is said and done, the new floor at Matthew Knight Arena will be among the most expensive college basketball courts in the nation, and somewhere between 3-4 times more expensive than the average basketball court at the NCAA level. The process of redesigning an average basketball court takes approximately 10 days, while this could take upwards of 30.

“The reason for this is because of the detail of the design, and the time that it takes to incorporate all of the intricacies.”

We hope the new design won’t become too complicated. Keep it simple, Ducks.

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Ducks named among top landing spots for USC’s Bronny James

A transfer to Oregon seems like a realistic possibility for Bronny James.

The college basketball world got a jolt of energy on Friday morning when it was officially announced that USC Trojans freshman Bronny James was entering his name in the 2024 NBA Draft while also keeping his NCAA eligibility and entering the transfer portal.

The initial belief is that James, the son of NBA legend LeBron James, will go through some draft workouts and make a decision on returning to school or trying to go professional after receiving some feedback. While the NBA is a possibility, there is a feeling that he will likely end up back in school for the 2024-25 season.

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But what school will that be?

On Friday, I made my case for why I think the Oregon Ducks are a legitimate option, especially after James seriously considered them the first time around. Our good friend Andy Patton at College Sports Wire agrees, listing Oregon as one of his top landing spots for James:

Oregon, like Ohio State, was heavily involved in Bronny’s recruitment out of high school, and the James family is deeply connected with Phil Knight and the Nike brand.

Coach Dana Altman has thrived when navigating the transfer portal, coming off a surprise run in the NCAA Tournament, and adding Bronny to a backcourt with fellow rising sophomore Jackson Shelstad would make must-see basketball in Eugene next season.

Patton also listed Ohio State, Duquesne, UCLA, SMU, and Jackson State as potential options, as well as a return to USC under new coach Eric Musselman.

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New player poll from The Athletic paints Oregon’s Kelly Graves in a poor light

A mass exodus and player polls paint Oregon’s Kelly Graves in a poor light.

For the second year in a row, Oregon Ducks women’s basketball has been sent into a tailspin at the start of the offseason.

On Wednesday morning, three Ducks entered the transfer portal. Two of them were the team’s best players, leaving the roster full of unknowns.

The next step for Oregon will be trying to replace those players with transfer additions of its own, but that may be tough for head coach Kelly Graves. In a straw poll by the Athletic, players around the country were asked which coach they’d like to play for least, and Graves ranked second.

The champion of that list was, unsurprisingly, LSU’s Kim Mulkey, who is infamous for her harsh words and attitude toward players. Mulkey received 32 of the 48 votes, while Graves received seven votes. That seems small in comparison, but second place is second place, especially on a list like that.

Not long ago, Graves’ Ducks were at the top of the basketball world, due in part to his aptitude for talent acquisition. In 2020, Oregon was in the fast lane on the road to a national championship before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. On that team were several WNBA-caliber talents, none greater than Sabrina Ionescu, who was one of the best women’s college basketball players ever, and has gone on to greater heights as the point guard for the New York Liberty.

Three years later the narrative has flipped. Throughout the past season, there was a growing sentiment among fans that Graves’ chair should be heating up. That sentiment was fueled by the Ducks’ 14-game losing streak to end the season — the longest losing streak in program history.

The Ducks need a roster overhaul, but it will be hard to bring in elite players with the program led by one of the coaches players would like to play for the least. And if Graves can’t figure out how to bring in a talented team, he will be on the hot seat.

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One Oregon basketball decommit is watching the Eric Musselman drama evolving at USC

One has to wonder if uncommitted recruits might come to USC based on a potential hire of Eric Musselman.

Vyctorius Miller is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Compass Prep High School in Arizona. He has been released from his national letter of intent to Oregon and will reopen his recruitment. The four-star senior committed to the Ducks in November. According to the On3 Industry Rankings, Miller is the No. 53 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle. Eric Musselman is reportedly about to interview at USC for the open head coaching position. One has to wonder if Miller’s new landing spot might depend on the Musselman situation.

It’s unclear where Miller will end up next season to start his college career, but before committing to Oregon, he took official visits with USC, LSU, Cal, Arizona and Arizona State. Gonzaga, Kansas and North Carolina could be in the mix as well.

The 6-foot-5, 170-pound senior averaged 14.3 points 2 steals and four assists last season. Stay with us and also with Razorbacks Wire for more on the Eric Musselman story at USC.

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Brennan Rigsby enters the transfer portal, leaving Oregon basketball

Brenna Rigsby is the first Duck to enter the transfer portal this offseason.

Brennan Rigsby, a junior guard for the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team, has entered the transfer portal after two seasons as a Duck. Rigsby previously played a season at North Florida State College, so he has a year of eligibility remaining.

In his two seasons in Eugene, Rigsby played in 57 games, averaging 5.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and an assist per game, while shooting 40.6% from the field. His numbers improved from year one to year two as well, averaging 6.1 points per game in the 2023-24 season.

Where Rigsby struggled was on the defensive end. His defense improved throughout the past season, but he still showed inconsistencies when stopping opposing guards at the point of attack and closing out shooters.

A week and a half ago, after the Ducks’ loss to Creighton in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament, Rigsby spoke to Oregonian reporter James Crepea about his future and said he wanted to stay at Oregon in 2024.

“Oregon is definitely a place I want to be.”

But in the modern landscape of college athletics, players don’t always have full autonomy in the transfer process, and they can sometimes be forced into the portal. It’s unclear whether that happened with Rigsby, but in the context of his comments at the end of the season, it’s a possibility.

Next season, the Ducks’ backcourt will look much different than it did this season, and as it stands, Oregon doesn’t have much guard depth. Jermaine Couisnard is out of eligibility, the Ducks lost incoming 4-star recruit Vyctorius Miller, and now Rigsby is on the way out.

We’ll still Jackson Shelstad will still be bringing the ball up next year, and Keeshawn Barthelemy has announced that he’ll be back in the fall, but other than that, Oregon doesn’t have many options. Dana Altman will surely explore options in the transfer portal, where he can hopefully find suitable replacements.

Oregon named as a potential landing spot for Stanford transfer Andrej Stojakovic

Andrej Stojakovic in Eugene? It could be a great landing spot for the Stanford transfer.

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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Keeshawn Barthelemy to return to Oregon for one more season

Big news for the Ducks. Keeshawn Barthelemy is expected to return for next season.

The Oregon Ducks are getting a great boost to their roster for the 2204-25 season, with one of their veteran guards expected to come back for one more season.

According to CBS Sports’ reporter Jon Rothstein, Keeshawn Barthelemy will come back to Eugene for one more year with the Ducks, which will be his third with the team.

After transferring from Colorado a year ago, Barthelemy saw his senior year cut short after suffering a gruesome ankle injury late in the year. Barthelemy has been able to recover nicely, and he will now come back for one more year. He projects to be one of the top scorers for the Ducks, having averaged 7.9 points per game in 18 games this past season.

In his 2022 season with the Ducks, Barthelemy averaged 9 points and 2 assists for the Ducks. The return is great news for Oregon, who saw 2024 recruit Vyctorius Miller announce his decommitment on Friday night.

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4-star Vyctorius Miller decommits from Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks’ 2024 class is down to just one single player.

Vyctorius Miller, a four-star recruit in the Oregon Ducks’ 2024 men’s basketball recruiting class, has been released from his letter of intent with Oregon and has reopened his recruitment. This news comes less than a week after Oregon’s loss to Creighton in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.

Miller is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Arizona, where he attended the same high school as Oregon freshman Mookie Cook. With star guard Jermaine Couisnard moving on from college ball, the loss of Miller is a big one for the Ducks.

Before Miller’s decommitment, Oregon’s 2024 recruiting class was already much weaker than Dana Altman is used to. Now, Ibrahima Traore, a 3-star center is the Ducks only remaining commit in this year’s class.

To bolster the guard position, talent from the transfer portal is probably the Ducks’ best bet, since most high-level high school players are already locked up. Altman has a history of bringing in great transfers, so look out for whoever Oregon brings in.

It’s unclear where Miller will end up next season to start his college career, but before committing to Oregon, he took official visits with LSU, USC, and Cal. Enrolling at Arizona or Arizona State, his local schools, is also a possibility.

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Washington transfer Koren Johnson strongly considering Oregon Ducks

An incoming transfer guard could be coming south from Washington in the coming weeks.

The Oregon Ducks have reportedly been reaching out to one of their rivals who entered the transfer portal earlier this offseason.

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, former Washington Huskies guard Koren Johnson is considering five schools after his move to enter the transfer portal a couple of weeks ago, and the Ducks are among the finalists for his commitment. Tipton reports that Johnson is looking at Oregon, Indiana, Florida, UCLA, and a potential return to Washington.

In 2023, Johnson played in 31 games, averaging 11.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He played for two full seasons at Washington, where he was an elite scorer with four games of 20-plus points this past year.

Koren Johnson Info

Size: 6-foot-2, 175-pounds

Recruiting Profile: 4-star, No. 128 player in 2022 class

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