Tag: Taylor Chavez

Taylor Mikesell becomes the latest Duck to leave the women’s basketball program

Taylor Mikesell spent just one season in Eugene before deciding it was best to move on and enter the transfer portal.

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We barely knew you, but always sorry to see someone leave.

After just one season in Eugene, senior-to-be Taylor Mikesell has decided to leave the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball program and re-enter the transfer portal.

Mikesell, who transferred to the Ducks from Maryland after two seasons with the Terrapins, joins Jaz Shelley and Taylor Chavez as players deciding to leave via the transfer portal. A record number of players are using the portal since the NCAA said players won’t have to sit out a year after transferring.

As a Duck, Mikesell averaged 9.3 points a game and shot 33 percent from the three-point line. She made an immediate impact with 28 points against Seattle in the season opener.

But Mikesell had difficulty finding a rhythm in her jump shot and was hot and cold as the year went along. She never did manage to have consistency in Kelly Graves’ offense and her numbers suffered. At Maryland, Mikesell averaged over 12 points a game and shot over 41 percent from long range, stats that she couldn’t replicate at Oregon.

Oregon State might wonder why Mikesell picked to her have her best games against the Beavers, however. In the three games against the Ducks’ biggest rival, Mikesell averaged over 20 points per contest and was 9-of-21 from three-point land.

Unfortunately, those three games were the exception, not the rule.

Whatever team winds up with Mikesell, they’ll be getting a player with tremendous talent as she was proven that she can be a player that can shoot her team to victory. She was the No. 32 ranked player coming out of high school and talent like that just doesn’t disappear.

Some things just don’t work out and Mikesell is one of those examples.

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Post Sabrina Ionescu era starts in Oregon with departure of Taylor Chavez, Jaz Shelley

Both Jaz Shelley and Taylor Chavez represented an era that is now all gone with their entries into the transfer portal.

This year was quite different for the women’s basketball program in more ways than one, as everyone had to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affected the way we watched sports.

But for the Oregon Ducks, not only did they have to play with the restrictions we all faced, they also had to figure out how to play without the trio of Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard, and Satou Sabally. It took some time, but they eventually did figure it out, with it culminating in a second-round upset of third-seed Georgia in the NCAA tournament.

Now that the season is over, though, Oregon received the news that guards Taylor Chavez and Jaz Shelley are entering the transfer portal. Those two, plus seniors Erin Boley and Lydia Giomi, were the last reminders of days past. When the Ducks take the floor for the 2021-22 season, there won’t be one player on the roster who can say they played in a game with Sabrina and Company.

Considering that the Ducks will only be one year removed from the program’s greatest team ever, it’s quite the splash of water in the face and a realization that those days are over.

While it’s a shock to the system, it’s not all that surprising that Chavez and Shelley are looking for greener pastures elsewhere. Playing time for both guards was dwindling as the season moved along, with freshmen Maddie Scherr and Sydney Parrish jumping into the rotation before those two.

Despite the lack of playing time, Chavez and Shelley proved time and time again they can absolutely shoot the ball and they’ll help another team win a lot of games. Shelley still owns the Oregon record for making 10 threes in a game when she torched UC Riverside for 32 points Dec. 19, 2019.

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The next era of the women’s program is going to look a lot different. With 6-foot-7 Sedona Prince and 6-foot-5 Nyara Sabally finally able to be healthy and injury-free, coach Kelly Graves managed to add 5-star guard/forward Taylor Bigby and 6-foot-8 Phillipina Kyei, who will be the tallest player in Oregon history when she arrives. Pair those two up with the No. 1 recruiting class from last season, one can see why Graves is excited about the future.

Oregon won’t have to rely on set shooters hovering around the three-point line anymore. The Ducks will be able to cram the ball in the middle for easy shots and when the defense sags in, that’s when those open threes for the guards will present themselves.

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