Tag: Oregon recruiting

4-Star WR set to take official visit to Oregon in June

The Ducks will get one of 4-star WR Jeremiah McClellan’s official visits in June.

In early April, 4-star WR Jeremiah McClellan named the Oregon Ducks as one of his top 12 schools. Soon after, McClellan made the trip to Eugene — along with a full slate of other possible recruits in the class of 2024 — for the Oregon Spring game.

Now McClellan has announced that he will be coming back to Eugene once more this summer, this time around for an official visit with the Ducks.

The Ducks have been successful in recruiting WRs in recent years. In the class of 2023, Oregon received commitments from 4-star Ashton Cozart and 5-star Jurrion Dickey, who is the second-best receiver in his class according to 247Sports. They also picked up Traeshon Holden and Tez Johnson in the transfer portal, who have impressed Ducks fans this spring.

Much like Johnson, one of McClellan’s biggest strengths is his speed out wide. He is often able to blow by safeties placed in deep zone coverage, and he also exhibits sure hands catching the football. His combination of speed and elusiveness could mean he also has the potential to be a kick-returner at the collegiate level.

Looking to next season, the skill of Oregon’s top receivers is exciting. With stars like Troy Franklin and Traeshon Holden, Bo Nix should have plenty of capable WRs to target each weekend. But after the 2023 season, some of those WRs may not be back. Franklin is expected to be taken early in the 2024 NFL draft, and the same could happen for other Ducks wideouts depending on how they perform next fall. For this reason, the pickup of a young, talented receiver like McClellan could be an important one for the Ducks down the road.

Jeremiah McClellan Recruiting Profile

Ducks become overwhelming favorite to land No. 3 OT in 2024 class

Ducks become overwhelming favorite to land No. 3 OT in 2024 class

The Oregon Ducks are trying to get bigger on the offensive line, it appears, and they might be well on their way to achieving that.

Over the past several months, A’lique Terry and the Ducks have been recruiting 4-star OT JacQawn McRoy, the No. 3 ranked OT in the 2024 class. Standing at 6-foot-8, 365 pounds, McRoy would be among the biggest players on the team if he ended up coming to Oregon.

Fortunately for the Ducks, it appears that the possibility could be turning into a reality. A pair of recruiting predictions on On3 came in on Tuesday that show Oregon as the team to beat for McRoy’s commitment. According to On3’s recruiting prediction machine, the Ducks have an overwhelming 92.7% chance to land the OT who is rated by 247Sports as the No. 62 overall player in the 2023 class.

We will see in the coming months whether or not the Ducks can close, but for the time being they seem to be in a great spot.

Jac’Qawn McRoy Recruiting Profile

Where Dana Altman and Ducks land in early 2023 NCAA Bracketology

ESPN’s early ‘Bracketology’ is out, and it thankfully has the Oregon Ducks back in the mix for the 2023 season.

After being ranked 21st in the AP preseason poll, the 2022-23 Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team seemed primed to be a single-digit seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament. But after Oregon suffered several upset losses early in the season and failed to string together wins later on, they were unable to make the tournament altogether.

We are 6 months away from when Oregon will hit the court again which means we can begin to make predictions about how the 2023-24 Ducks will fare. With the level of talent on the Ducks roster, there is reason to be optimistic about Oregon’s tournament chances.

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his first bracketology report for 2024. In the report, he predicts to be a No. 9 seed in 2024, which would pit them against No. 8 seed Miami in the first round next March.

Oregon is one of five Pac-12 teams picked by Lunardi to make it to the round of 64. Arizona is the front-runner of the five schools and is projected to be a five-seed as the champion of the Pac-12. USC and UCLA are both picked to be six-seeds and Colorado joins Oregon as a nine.

The Ducks’ lineup will look a lot different next season. In the 2023 recruiting class, the Ducks have letters of intent from SF Mookie Cook, PG Jackson Shelstad, and PF Kwame Evans Jr. — all of whom are five-star recruits. Additionally, star center N’faly Dante, two-way wing Jermaine Couisnard, and sharpshooting guard Keeshawn Barthelemy are all returning for another year in Eugene.

Oregon did see some notable losses this offseason including five-year veteran PG, Will Richardson, and former five-star big man, Kel’el Ware. Hopefully, with pickups in the transfer portal and the 2023 class, those holes can be filled.

In the 2022-2023 season, the Ducks were often plagued by injuries, but even when key players were healthy, they struggled to put the pieces together. If Oregon is to make it to the NCAA tournament in 2024, they will need to play much more cohesively than last year’s team did. The talent of the Ducks’ roster is undeniable and if they can capitalize on that talent, the ceiling for the Ducks could be much higher than a No. 9 seed.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Breaking down the DB recruiting boon at Oregon during the Dan Lanning era

It feels like recruiting in the defensive secondary has taken off for Oregon since Dan Lanning and his staff took over.

Has it? We broke down all of the numbers to find out.

Dan Lanning has been the head coach of the Oregon Ducks for only 17 months. Since taking over for Mario Cristobal in December of 2021, a lot has transpired. There have been roster shake-ups, numerous coaching changes, big-time wins, frustrating losses, and all-in-all, a successful start to the new era of Oregon football.

One thing that hasn’t changed under Lanning is recruiting success in Eugene. While Willie Taggart got the ball rolling in 2017 and turned a lot of Oregon eyes toward the world of recruiting in his one year at the helm, Cristobal really took things to the next level and recruited better than anyone ever had in Eugene.

Lanning picked up right where Cristobal left off, and is arguably doing things just as well, if not better than the former Oregon coach did.

While Lanning has a knack for star-studded visitor lists and a recruiting class that resembles an SEC school along the defensive trenches, one of the things that has stood out to me the most during his almost two years in Eugene is his — and his coaching staff’s — ability to recruit in the defensive secondary. Whether it’s cornerbacks or safeties, it has felt like picking up players who can cover with speed and be physical at the point of attack has been a priority for the Ducks.

Again, this ability is not Lanning’s alone but also should be credited to his coaching staff, mainly cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, former safeties coach Matt Powledge, and current safeties coach Chris Hampton.

[lawrence-related id=38794]

On Sunday afternoon, the Ducks got a commitment from 4-star cornerback Ify Obidegwu, the No. 99 player in the 2024 class. His commitment urged me to dig into the numbers to answer a question that I have found myself routinely asking…

Is Dan Lanning’s staff better at recruiting defensive backs than any other coach we’ve seen at Oregon, or is this just a product of recency bias?

I dug through the numbers of the recruiting classes for the past five head coaches to get an answer, going back to the start of the Chip Kelly era when you could argue that recruiting started to be a focus for Oregon. Here’s what I found:

Where Ducks now rank in 2024 recruiting rankings following latest commitment

Another sizeable jump in the recruiting ratings for the Ducks after the addition of 4-star CB Ify Obidegwu.

The Oregon Ducks continue to be hot on the recruiting trail, picking up blue-chip players left and right, and hosting some of the top players in the nation over the past several weeks.

Last weekend at the annual spring game, we saw one of the most star-studded visitor lists ever in Eugene, and the Ducks continue to be in the running for some of the best players left available in the 2024 class.

On Sunday morning, they got a commitment from one of those players, 4-star cornerback Ify Obidegwu. The blue-chip defender out of Maryland is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 99 overall player in the class, and the No. 11 CB.

With the addition of Obidegwu, the Ducks now have 11 verbal commitments in this cycle, and they took another big jump up the national recruiting ratings. Take a look at where they now stand, per 247Sports.

4-star CB Ify Obidegwu announces commitment to Oregon

Another big-time addition for the Ducks in the secondary for the 2024 class.

The Oregon Ducks landed another big-time player in the 2024 recruiting class on Sunday morning, with 4-star cornerback Ify Obidegwu announcing that he was committing to play for Dan Lanning in Eugene.

Obidegwu is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 99 overall player in the 2024 class, and the No. 11 CB in the nation. His addition to Oregon’s current recruiting class helps to further bolster the secondary. The Ducks already have a commitment from 4-star safety Aaron Flowers, the No. 114 player and No. 8 safety in the 2024 class as well.

With the addition of Obidegwu, the Ducks now jump up to the No. 7 spot in the national rankings for 2024, with 11 commitments.

Ify Obidegwu’s Recruiting Profile

Twitter Reaction: Basketball world reacts to Bronny James choosing USC over Oregon, Ohio State

Bronny James announces commitment –> Twitter goes crazy. Who didn’t expect that?

On Saturday afternoon, arguably one of the most high-profile recruitments in the history of college basketball finally came to an end.

Bronny James, a 4-star guard and the son of NBA legend LeBron James, announced that he will committing to the USC Trojans, choosing Andy Enfield and sunny Los Angeles over the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Of course, as the son of LeBron, Bronny has drawn a ton of attention of the years down at Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles. He reportedly has already signed a deal with Nike, which gave many some confidence that would potentially commit to the Ducks. However, it was the proximity of USC and everything else that Los Angeles offers that kept Bronny home.

As you would expect, his commitment raised a lot of reaction on social media. Here are some of the best tweets from the afternoon.

Oregon extends offer to former Colorado Buffaloes tight end

TE Seydou Traore transferred to Colorado last December. He’s now leaving Deion Sanders’ program, and the Ducks are interested.

It may have seemed like the Oregon Ducks might be out of the tight-end transfer portal market after picking up former Ole Miss TE Casey Kelly a week or so ago, but that’s apparently not the case.

On Friday night, former Colorado Buffaloes tight end Seydou Traore announced on Twitter that he received an offer from the Ducks, one of the many that he’s gotten since entering the transfer portal.

The Ducks initially added Kelly to the roster after starting TE Terrance Ferguson went down for the spring with an apparent shoulder injury.

Seydou has spent a lot of time in the portal before. He initially signed with the Arkansas State Red Wolves as a member of the 2021 recruiting class but transferred to Colorado back in December of 2022 after Deion Sanders took over. As part of the mass exodus that has taken place in Boulder over the past month, Traore is once again searching for a new team to play for.

In two seasons at Arkansas State, Traore played in 16 games, catching 61 passes for 734 yards and 4 touchdowns.

At the moment, the Ducks currently have three scholarships available to use this offseason, and they have a number of offers out to players on the open market.

Seydou Traore’s Transfer Portal Profile

No. 1 DL in 2024 class puts Oregon among top schools

The Oregon Ducks landed among the top 10 for the No. 1 DL in the 2024 class.

The Oregon Ducks continue to see recruiting buzz skyrocket under Dan Lanning and the coaching staff in Eugene, routinely getting in the mix for some of the top players in the nation.

The latest, 5-star defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri, put the Ducks among his top schools earlier this week, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise for fans who have been paying attention to the recruiting trail for Oregon.

Nwaneri is rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 DL in the 2024 class, and the No. 3 overall player in the nation. The blue-chip defender was on campus for a visit in Eugene earlier this year, and he has also said that the Ducks will get one of his five official visits as well.

The interest from Nwaneri goes along the lines of what we’ve seen recently at Oregon. Last weekend at the annual spring game, a handful of the best defensive linemen in the nation were in Eugene for visits, including 5-star David Stone, 5-star Dylan Stewart, and 5-star Jordan Ross. 5-star EDGE Elijah Rushing was also in Eugene a few days prior to the spring game.

Williams Nwaneri Recruiting Profile

5-star ATH Terry Bussey puts Ducks among top schools

5-star Terry Bussey, the No. 1 ATH in the 2024 class, as Oregon among his top schools.

The Oregon Ducks look to be in the mix for one of the top athletes in the 2024 recruiting class.

Earlier this week, 5-star athlete Terry Bussey named his top-11 schools, putting the Ducks in the mix with schools like Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, and many others.

Bussey is rated by 247Sports as the No. 17 overall player in the nation, and the No. 1 athlete in the 2024 class.

Playing defensive back and wide receiver, Bussey is among the top players on the board in the 2024 class. He has yet to take a visit to Eugene, but it is likely that we see him come out west to see Dan Lanning and other Oregon coaching staff in the coming months.

Terry Bussey’s Recruiting Profile