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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Oregon basketball set for the Maui Invitational in 2025

The Oregon men’s basketball program announced it will be one of eight teams to play in the 2025 Maui Invitational.

The Oregon men’s basketball faithful will have some time to make major travel plans.

The Ducks have announced they will be part of the eight-team field that will make up the 2025 Maui Invitational November 24-26. Oregon has competed in three previous Maui Invitationals (2008, 2016, 2021), compiling a 4-5 record in those appearances.

Joining the Ducks in next year’s tournament will be Division II Chaminade (tourney host), Baylor, North Carolina State, Seton Hall, Texas, UNLV and fellow Big Ten newcomer USC.

The 42nd annual tournament will feature programs that share 156 NCAA Tournament appearances, 19 Final Fours, and five national championships.

As for this year’s Maui Invite, programs such as Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina and Chaminade will play on the island.

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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.

Dana Altman announces the return of assistant Tony Stubblefield

Oregon’s level of success wasn’t the same without assistant Tony Stubblefield and now he has returned to Eugene.

To those paying attention, you could see this from a mile away.

From the moment DePaul let head coach Tony Stubblefield go mid-season, the speculation of him returning to Oregon began.

Now it’s official.

Oregon men’s basketball Head Coach Dana Altman has announced the hiring of Stubblefield as an assistant coach.

“We are excited to have Tony back in Eugene,” said Altman. “He’s an excellent coach and will make an immediate impact on our team.”

Stubblefield spent 11 seasons on Altman’s Oregon staff before taking over the Blue Demon program. The Ducks reached seven NCAA Tournaments, including five Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights, and a Final Four with Stubblefield on staff.

During his tenure, Stubblefield helped Oregon assemble four recruiting classes that were ranked among the top 12 nationally (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). Included in those classes were future NBA players Troy Brown Jr., Louis King, Bol Bol, and Payton Pritchard.

His absence was noticeable as Oregon missed the last three NCAA tournaments before making a run this season. Stubblefield still followed the Ducks during and after he was the coach at DePaul and was seen at the NCAA tourney in Pittsburgh.

Former Duck center Kel’el Ware declares for the NBA draft

The former 5-star Oregon recruit and Indiana transfer is heading to the NBA.

He wasn’t a one-and-done, but he was close.

Former Oregon basketball center Kel’el Ware, who transferred to Indiana after one season in Eugene, has declared for the NBA draft in June.

Ware, a 7-footer from North Little Rock, Ark. played 30 games as a Hoosier this past season after playing 35 games as a Duck in his freshman season. He was hampered with an ankle injury towards the end of this year in Bloomington.

But before the injury, Ware was productive as he averaged 15.9 points a game and 9.9 rebounds for the Hoosiers. Those numbers were significantly better than his only season under Dana Altman. Ware scored just 6.6 points a game and 4.1 rebounds.

Seeing him transfer out of the Oregon program was a disappointment as Ware clearly possesses the talent to have a season like he had at Indiana. But the center was playing behind N’Faly Dante and wouldn’t have received the minutes like he did at Indiana.

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Drake star with close ties to Dana Altman enters transfer portal

A small forward with high scoring averages and ties to Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks in the transfer portal. Worth a look?

Dana Altman continually reminds anyone who will listen that the world of college basketball is evolving before our very eyes and those who adjust the quickest will be successful and not have to play catch up.

One of those huge changes is the transfer portal with more and more players entering it year by year. To Altman and Oregon’s credit, they’re one of the programs that has adjusted nicely. The Ducks are successful more times than not when it comes to the portal.

Every season. the Oregon roster consists of several players that come through that portal and one player with ties to the Duck program just entered the portal.

Drake star Tucker DeVries, a 6-foot-7 small forward from Waukee, Iowa, averaged over 21 points a game, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Bulldogs. He’s also the two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

So what’s the Oregon connection?

DeVries’ father, Darian, was an assistant under Altman while he was at Creighton. But the odds are the younger DeVries heads to West Virginia to play for his dad, who was just named as the Mountaineers’ new head coach. The Ducks also offered DeVries a scholarship when he was coming out of high school.

Teams are going to be lining up to obtain the services of DeVries, however, and nothing is a sure thing. He would fit right in to the Oregon lineup, which needs a shooter on the wing.

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Report: Brennan Rigsby, Jadrian Tracey open up about futures in Oregon

Guard Brennan Rigsby and small forward Jadrian Tracey are set to play in Eugene for the 2024-25 season.

The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball season ended with a second-round loss to Creighton in double overtime and the off-season has officially begun.

Players are going to start to announce their future plans and the first Ducks to announce their intentions is guard Brennan Rigsby and Jadrian Tracey. According to James Crepea of The Oregonian, both players plan to stick around for one more season.

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

Tracey repeated Rigsby sentiment as he said he wants to return to Eugene for the 2024-25 season. Both players will be seniors.

Head coach Dana Altman has repeatedly said that he wants players who want to be at Oregon and earn their degrees. It looks like Rigsby and Tracey are two of those types of players.

For the 2023-24 season, Rigsby, a De Beque, Colo. native played in all 36 games, starting 13 and averaged six points per contest. Rigsby also shot 35 percent from the field.

Tracey came to Oregon via SouthWestern Community College in Florida. He played in all 36 games, started 22 contests where Tracey averaged 7.6 points a game, and shot 36 percent from the three-point line.

Photo Gallery: Creighton outlasts Oregon in double overtime classic

Photo Gallery: Jermaine Couisnard goes for 32 and N’Faly Dante adds 28 points and 20 boards, but it’s not enough to defeat Creighton.

No one can say Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante didn’t give it their all.

In the last game of the season, Oregon fought Creighton for 50 minutes but ultimately ran out of gas and fell 86-73. Couisnard went for 32 points and Dante scored 28 as well as 20 rebounds. Unfortunately, that was the vast majority of the Ducks’ output. Those two scored 60 of the 73 points.

Oregon was right there the entire way and even had a shot at the end of regulation to win it. Couisnard’s long three from the left wing at the end of the first overtime kept the game going. With a short bench and Jackson Shelstad suffering a knee injury, the Ducks didn’t have a chance when the second overtime rolled around.

But just the Ducks being in this position was a minor miracle. They were NIT-bound for the third straight season. It was only a magical run through the Pac-12 tournament that put Oregon in the Big Dance.

They’ll miss Couisnard and Dante, but with some returners such as Nate Bittle, Shelstad and Kwame Evans, Jr. the Ducks should field a really good team in their first foray into the Big Ten Conference.

Jermaine Couisnard joins Stephen Curry in NCAA Tournament record book

Jermaine Couisnard became the first player since 1988 to score 40 points and dish out five assists in an NCAA tournament game.

Just two weeks ago, this would be unthinkable.

Oregon was in Tucson, Ariz. busy getting blasted by the Wildcats and its NCAA tournament hopes were on life support and that’s being generous.

Flash forward to now and the Ducks are a brand new team that has figured out how to play defense. Oregon is on its way to the Round of 32 where Creighton awaits.

The defense might have been on point, but the offensive prowess of guard Jermaine Couisnard helped propel the Ducks to an 87-73 win over his former team, South Carolina. In Thursday’s game against the Gamecocks, Couisnard dropped a career-high 40 points in the win.

That point total put him in elite company in the NCAA history books, joining the greatest shooter of all time, Stephen Curry, as the only player to do that in a win as a double-digit seed.

No matter what you did, ending up on a list with Stephen Curry is usually a pretty good thing.

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Photo Gallery: Ducks advance as Couisnard lights up former team

Photo Gallery: Ducks advance as Couisnard lights up former team

Everyone said Oregon was going to be a dangerous team heading into the NCAA tournament. But talk can be cheap if you can’t back it up.

The Ducks backed up all that talk.

Thanks to a March Madness school record 40 points from Jermaine Couisnard, Oregon advanced to the third round of the tournament with an 87-73 win over 6-seed South Carolina.

Couisnard, who played for the Gamecocks for three seasons before coming to Oregon, lit up his former team on 14-of-22 shooting from the field, including 5-of-9 from the three-point line.

Oregon, an 11-seed, will now face 3-seed Creighton on Saturday. The Bluejays are of course head coach Dana Altman’s former team. Creighton defeated Akron 77-60 earlier in the day.

Here are the best pictures from Oregon’s 14-point win.