Post by mhbruin on Aug 18, 2021 9:57:51 GMT -8
Finally, we have the first-place Oregon Ducks. They are familiar territory finishing first. They have won the league 4 of the last 6 seasons.
Once again, Dana Altman faces a big rebuilding year. He even had to also replace his top assistant Tony Stubblefield who is now DePaul's head coach. Stubblefield was a big part of Oregon's recruiting. His replacement is Chris Crutchfield. Crutchfield most recently served as the head coach at East Central University, a Division II school in Ada, Oklahoma. He led the Tigers to a 10-9 record in the Great American Conference.
Oregon was really a five-man team last season with not much of a bench. They are losing three of those five.
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
Chris Duarte was the #13 pick in the NBA draft.
Eugene Omoruyi was signed to a 2-way contract with the Dallas Maverick. He has managed to get ejected from a summer league game for getting punched by former Trojan Chimezie Metu. (Actually he was ejected for a flagrant foul that led to the punch.)
Figueroa has announced that he will hire an agent and is said to have signed with a team in the Dominican Republic.
Amauri Hardy may be in witness protection. I cannot figure out what happened to him after deciding not to transfer to Georgia.
TRANSFERRING OUT
Lawson was backup center for much of the season, but center is the one position where the Ducks are loaded. He didn't have much a future in Eugene.
Jalen Terry was the Ducks’ backup point guard and played in 20 games, including one start, this past season, averaging 2.9 points. His playing time diminished over the final weeks of the season. Terry joins the long-time Oregon lead assistant coach, who was named head coach at DePaul.
Patterson decided to transfer to Nevada back in October and never played this season for the Ducks. He played in 28 games in the 2019-2020 season averaging 11 minutes and 5 points.
Aaron Estrada only played in 9 games after transferring in last season. With the departure of Jalen Terry and Amauri Hardy, he was expected to provide some backup minutes at PG for Will Richardson. With his departure, the Ducks are very thin at the guard position.
RETURNING
Oregon had only 3 players who played in all 28 games this season. All three are leaving.
The top 4 returning players are a damned good core. Will Richardson could be a candidate for Pac-12 player of the year.
Frank Kepnang was another one of those kids who should have been high-school seniors. In limited time with the Ducks he looked a bit raw. What do you expect for a kid who joined mid-season? But he seemed to have a significant upside.
Dante could be a monster, if if could only stay healthy.
As I count, that is 2 centers, 2 forwards, and 1 guard.
Mark Few and Tony Bennet both offered Nathan Bittle. That tells me the kid can play and that Nathan isn't a hot dog.
Less than a week after Chandler Lawson entered the transfer portal, his younger brother, Johnathan Lawson, requested his release from his signed letter of intent as part of the Ducks' 2021 recruiting class. The Ducks granted his request.
Isaac Johnson is from the class of 2019, and spent the last two years on a Mormon mission. He may be a bit rusty, but he is a talented kid who will be older than most college freshmen.
Dana Altman seems to LOVE having a lot of centers on the roster. Now we have 4 centers, 2 forwards and 1 guard. It's pretty obvious that Altman needed guards from the transfer pool.
* Transfer ranks are from CBS Sports.
Once again Altman has worked has successfully worked the transfer portal. After losing 3 of the top players from a team with no depth, he has brought in two quality recruits and 4 transfers. He has added a 5-star and three 4-star players to his roster, and a couple of other players who could be good.
This doesn't look like a deep team. Neither was last season's team. However, this season they are likely to have to play a full schedule, so depth may be an issue, particularly at the guard postion.
The national media is expecting big things from the Ducks. Gary Parrish ranks them #15. Lunardi says a #6 seed. SI says #12.
Our Pac-12 predictors predict they will be in the top half of the league. I predict a 4th place finish. Less1Brain says 6th. Vrooman and Wilner go for 2nd.
Torvick agrees with me at 4th. That averages out to around a 4th place finish.
If you want to read another view, scroll down to Less1Brain's post in this thread. Click Here
Once again, Dana Altman faces a big rebuilding year. He even had to also replace his top assistant Tony Stubblefield who is now DePaul's head coach. Stubblefield was a big part of Oregon's recruiting. His replacement is Chris Crutchfield. Crutchfield most recently served as the head coach at East Central University, a Division II school in Ada, Oklahoma. He led the Tigers to a 10-9 record in the Great American Conference.
Oregon was really a five-man team last season with not much of a bench. They are losing three of those five.
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| Chris Duarte | 33 | 17 | 5 | 3 | No |
| Eugene Omoruyi | 29 | 17 | 5 | 2 | No |
| LJ Figueroa | 30 | 12 | 6 | 1 | No |
| Amauri Hardy | 19 | 4 | 1 | 2 | No |
Chris Duarte was the #13 pick in the NBA draft.
Eugene Omoruyi was signed to a 2-way contract with the Dallas Maverick. He has managed to get ejected from a summer league game for getting punched by former Trojan Chimezie Metu. (Actually he was ejected for a flagrant foul that led to the punch.)
Figueroa has announced that he will hire an agent and is said to have signed with a team in the Dominican Republic.
Amauri Hardy may be in witness protection. I cannot figure out what happened to him after deciding not to transfer to Georgia.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Chandler Lawson | 18 | 4 | 3 | 1 | Memphis |
| Will Johnson | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Humboldt State |
| Jalen Terry | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | DePaul |
| Addison Patterson | Nevada | ||||
| Aaron Estrada | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Hofstra |
Lawson was backup center for much of the season, but center is the one position where the Ducks are loaded. He didn't have much a future in Eugene.
Jalen Terry was the Ducks’ backup point guard and played in 20 games, including one start, this past season, averaging 2.9 points. His playing time diminished over the final weeks of the season. Terry joins the long-time Oregon lead assistant coach, who was named head coach at DePaul.
Patterson decided to transfer to Nevada back in October and never played this season for the Ducks. He played in 28 games in the 2019-2020 season averaging 11 minutes and 5 points.
Aaron Estrada only played in 9 games after transferring in last season. With the departure of Jalen Terry and Amauri Hardy, he was expected to provide some backup minutes at PG for Will Richardson. With his departure, the Ducks are very thin at the guard position.
RETURNING
Oregon had only 3 players who played in all 28 games this season. All three are leaving.
| Player | Games | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Will Richardson | 16 | 33 | 11 | 3 | 4 | Sr | 4 | 42 |
| Eric Williams Jr. | 24 | 30 | 10 | 6 | 2 | Sr | Unranked | |
| N'Faly Dante | 6 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 0 | Jr | 5 | 24 |
| Franck Kepnang | 17 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | So | 4 | 36 |
| Lok Wur | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | So | 3 | 478 |
The top 4 returning players are a damned good core. Will Richardson could be a candidate for Pac-12 player of the year.
Frank Kepnang was another one of those kids who should have been high-school seniors. In limited time with the Ducks he looked a bit raw. What do you expect for a kid who joined mid-season? But he seemed to have a significant upside.
Dante could be a monster, if if could only stay healthy.
As I count, that is 2 centers, 2 forwards, and 1 guard.
RECRUITS
#75 class, #10 in Pac-12
| Name | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Nathan Bittle | 6-11 200 | C | 5 | 16 | UCLA, Virginia, USC, Gonzaga |
| Isaac Johnson | 6-11 220 | C | 4 | 74 | Utah, Gonzaga, Stanford, USC |
Mark Few and Tony Bennet both offered Nathan Bittle. That tells me the kid can play and that Nathan isn't a hot dog.
Less than a week after Chandler Lawson entered the transfer portal, his younger brother, Johnathan Lawson, requested his release from his signed letter of intent as part of the Ducks' 2021 recruiting class. The Ducks granted his request.
Isaac Johnson is from the class of 2019, and spent the last two years on a Mormon mission. He may be a bit rusty, but he is a talented kid who will be older than most college freshmen.
Dana Altman seems to LOVE having a lot of centers on the roster. Now we have 4 centers, 2 forwards and 1 guard. It's pretty obvious that Altman needed guards from the transfer pool.
TRANSFERRING IN
| Player | Size | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | From | Class | Transfer Rank* | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| De'Vion Harmon | 6-0 192 | 32 | 13 | 3 | 2 | Oklahoma | Jr | 25 | 4 | 47 |
| Rivaldo Soares | 6-6 190 | 15 | 7 | 3 | South Plains College | Jr | #10 JUCO | |||
| Quincy Guerrier | 6-7 220 | 33 | 14 | 8 | 1 | Syracuse | Jr | 21 | 4 | 121 |
| Jacob Young | 6-2 185 | 30 | 14 | 2 | 3 | Rutgers | Sr 5 | 42 |
* Transfer ranks are from CBS Sports.
Harmon gives the Ducks a desperately-needed guard. He had also declared for the NBA draft, but withdrew as expected. Harmon was a 2-year starter at Oklahoma.
Soares gives Altman another desperately needed guard. He shot 34.5 percent on three-pointers and made 45.5 percent of his field goals. I imagine they are hoping he will be another Chris Duarte, but Duarte was the #1 JUCO his year, not the #10.
Young is a nice get for Altman. He led a very good Rutgers team in assists and steals. Although his 1.0 A/TO ratio wasn't very good, he did shoot 47% from the floor and 37% on 3's. And he's a very experienced player. However, his teammate who is headed to Westwood was the #28 transfer.
Guerrier will have three years of eligibility remaining after playing two seasons of college basketball at Syracuse. He started all 28 games he played in for the Orange. He shot 49% percent from the field (31% from the arc) and had 1.1 blocks. Guerrier declared for the NBA Draft, but withdrew.
Soares gives Altman another desperately needed guard. He shot 34.5 percent on three-pointers and made 45.5 percent of his field goals. I imagine they are hoping he will be another Chris Duarte, but Duarte was the #1 JUCO his year, not the #10.
Young is a nice get for Altman. He led a very good Rutgers team in assists and steals. Although his 1.0 A/TO ratio wasn't very good, he did shoot 47% from the floor and 37% on 3's. And he's a very experienced player. However, his teammate who is headed to Westwood was the #28 transfer.
Guerrier will have three years of eligibility remaining after playing two seasons of college basketball at Syracuse. He started all 28 games he played in for the Orange. He shot 49% percent from the field (31% from the arc) and had 1.1 blocks. Guerrier declared for the NBA Draft, but withdrew.
CONCLUSION
Once again Altman has worked has successfully worked the transfer portal. After losing 3 of the top players from a team with no depth, he has brought in two quality recruits and 4 transfers. He has added a 5-star and three 4-star players to his roster, and a couple of other players who could be good.
This doesn't look like a deep team. Neither was last season's team. However, this season they are likely to have to play a full schedule, so depth may be an issue, particularly at the guard postion.
The national media is expecting big things from the Ducks. Gary Parrish ranks them #15. Lunardi says a #6 seed. SI says #12.
Our Pac-12 predictors predict they will be in the top half of the league. I predict a 4th place finish. Less1Brain says 6th. Vrooman and Wilner go for 2nd.
Torvick agrees with me at 4th. That averages out to around a 4th place finish.
If you want to read another view, scroll down to Less1Brain's post in this thread. Click Here