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On Monday evening, Oregon Ducks center Franck Kepnang announced that he will be entering the transfer portal and looking to leave the team this offseason.
Kepnang, who averaged 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block in his 14.5 minutes per game this season, was always more of an impact player than he showed to be on the stat sheet. As a 6 or 7-man coming off of the bench, ‘Franck the Tank’ always brought the energy for the Ducks and quickly became a fan favorite in his time in Eugene thanks to his infectious effort and hard work on both ends of the floor.
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While it is absolutely unfortunate for Oregon to lose a player like Kepnang, who stands 6-foot-11, 225 pounds, there could be a chance to look on the bright side in this scenario. It could mean that the core of Oregon’s big-men, of which there are plenty, might be sticking around for the 2022 season.
At the heart of the paint is N’Faly Dante, the Ducks’ go-to big-man who averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes per game this past year. After the season, there was a thought that Dante might capitalize on his recent success and try to make a jump to the NBA, but a growing feeling has it that he will return for one more season instead. Kepnang’s departure may portend to that train of thought being true, since having both of them back, plus incoming 5-star center Kel’el Ware could lead to too many cooks in the kitchen.
On top of that, there is also the Nate Bittle piece of this all. Bittle is a former 5-star PF/C who stands at 7-feet tall with a high ceiling. He didn’t play very much in his freshman season, but there are hopes that he will find more of a role going forward. In my view of things, it was going to be either Bittle or Kepnang to transfer this offseason — as long as Dante returned — and the Ducks would have to keep that core going forward.
Now we have the first domino to fall with Kepnang departing. Should that lead to the other players announcing a return, we will see.
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