Post by mhbruin on Apr 2, 2024 9:57:42 GMT -8
CHANGES
Vyctorrius Miller was released from his LOI to Oregon and then committed to LSU.
5/30 N'Faly Dante denied another year of eligibility by the NCAA
6/8 Former Arizona signee Jamari Phillips commits to the Ducks.
6/14 Added transfer Supreme Cook
====================
The Oregon Ducks finished in 4th place in the Pac-12 and went on to win the Pac-12 tournament. They won a game in the NCAA tournament before losing to Creighton in OT. Dana Altman coached at Creighton for 16 years. Oregon was a very talented team that was hindered by injuries all season.
Dana Altman has been in Eugene for 14 years, winning a conference regular-season or tournament title in 7 of them. He has led the Ducks to 8 NCAA tournaments including a Final Four and an Elite Eight. He is a very good coach, who also benefits from the Nike money.
GRADUATING
The Ducks are losing quite a bit here. Two starters, their two leading scorers, leader in assists, #1 and #3 rebounders, and leading shot blocker.
N'Faly Dante was first-team All-Pac-12 and Cousinard was second-team. Dante was also on the All-Defensive Team.
Dante petitioned the NCAA for another year of eligibility. In his first two seasons he played in a total of 20 games. In the most recent season he only played in 22 games. However, the NCAA decided five seasons was enough.
Cousinard was led the team in assists, was second in scoring, and was third in rebounding.
Diawara started some games because at time both big men, Dante and Bittle, were out with injuries.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
TRANSFERRING OUT
Kario Oquendo and Brennan Rigsby were both key parts of the Duck rotation. Oquendo will be playing for former SC coach Andy Enfield.
RETURNING
Although the Ducks are losing a lot to graduation and the portal, the cupboard is hardly bare. They are returning 4 starters. They also return a decent amount of production.
Jackson Shelstad was on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. He had a very good freshman season, and he should be much better in his second season.
Nate Bittle has followed in the footsteps of other Oregon big men, by being injured in each of his three seasons in Eugene. He hasn't been very physical, but he is very skilled.
Barthelemy isn't a great athelete, but he is solid in all phases of the game. He is their leading returning three-point shooter.
Jadrian Tracey came from Florida Southwestern State and immediately stepped into the starting lineup.
Kwame Evans Jr. came in with high expectations and mostly lived up to them. He mostly wasn't a big scorer, but he had a couple of 22-point games. Expect a breakout season in 24-25.
Mookie Cook who is no relation to Ed "Kooky" Burns, was hurt early in the season and ended up a redshirt. It was expected he was going to play a lot, but the injury bug had other ideas.
RECRUITS
(#53 class, #12 in B1G)
Vyctorrius Miller was released from his LOI to Oregon and then committed to LSU. You might say LSU was eventually victorious in the battle for his services.
After losing a 4-star shooting guard, Coach Altman found an even high-ranked 4-star shooting guard. The magic of Nike strikes again.
Knowing Altman's approach, I imagine Traore is a great athlete and shot blocker.
Dezdrick Lindsay is a JUCO transfer from Florida Southwestern State, where he averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 27 games with 10 starts
TRANSFERRING IN
As has been the pattern for Oregon, the real action is in the portal.
Back when all the other coaches were trying to recruit high schoool stars, Dana Altman was the master of the transfer. Just about every year, he would fill his holes in his roster with mature, experienced players. These days he has to compete with everyone in the transfer market, but he still has that Nike money, which he can now funnel into NIL.
Altman can still find quality players in the portal. This may be rated the 8th best class in the league, but I think it is a damned good one. These guys all started for their previous teams and three of the four stated for major conference teams.
Brandon Angel was the second-leading scorer and rebounder in Palo Alto, behind only Maxime Raynaud. He's an excellent player who should start for the Ducks.
TJ Bamba was a full-time starter at Washington State before becoming a full-time starter at Villanova where he was their 2nd-leading scorer. He should play a lot and might challenge for a starting role.
Ra'Heim Moss led the Rockets in assists and was second in points and rebounds for the champions of the MAC.
As far as I know Supreme Cook never beat Bobby Flay, but he did lead the Hoyas in rebounds. He was #9 in the country in offensive rebounds per game while only averaging 27 minutes.
CONCLUSION
This is one of the best rosters in the Big Ten for next season. They have talent, with three 5-star players, the most in the league. They have a couple of highly-ranked 4-star players. They also have a bunch of guys who were starters for Power 6 teams. They have size. They have outside shooting. They have one of the best coaches in the business.
I suspect the Ducks will be the surprise team in the league and compete for the Big Ten Title. If they can stay healthy, I think they compete with UCLA, Michigan State, and Indiana for the conference title. Underestimate Dana Altman at your own risk.
Torvick projects Oregon as the #44 team in the country and #11 team in the B1G. He projects a 20-11 record and 12-8 in the B1G.
247 picks Oregon to finish 4th in the Big Ten.
Lundari predicts Oregon as "First Four Out".
Vrooman picks the Ducks to finish tied for 9th with Michigan State. He writes:
t-9th. Oregon Ducks
Projected Adjusted Efficiency Margin: +17.81 (+14.19 last year)
Coaching Info: Dana Altman -1.63 (59th)
5 Highest Rated Players: G Jackson Shelstad (12.8 pts, 2.8 ast), F Kwame Evans (7.3 pts, 4.9 reb), 6’8 F Brandon Angel (Stanford- 13.0 pts, 44.7% 3pt), G 6’5 TJ Bamba (Villanova- 10.1 pts, 3.6 reb), 6’4 G Ra’Heim Moss (Toledo- 15.5 pts, 5.4 reb)
Altman was one of the coaches most negatively affected by my decision to weight more recent seasons more heavily. The Ducks haven’t overachieved in my model in 5 years and have now underachieved in 6 of the last 8. Only once in the last 13 years have they finished worse than 75th at KenPom so Altman never lets them hit rock bottom but between injuries and roster churn they also haven’t finished better than 42nd the last 3 years after doing so 5 of the previous 6 years.
It’s worth noting that Oregon is one of the few schools that could still dramatically improve their roster. They are still seeking a waiver for center N’Faly Dante and he immediately becomes one of, if not the best center in the B1G next season if he plays. Without him they’ll be relying on Nate Bittle to finally be healthy (similar to UW with former Duck Franck Kepnang). Kwame Evans Jr. has the rim protection skills to be a small ball center but that’s better as a change of pace look than your only real center.
The good news (for Oregon) is they are loaded with guards and wings. Jackson Shelstad had an impressive true freshman season and is a clear breakout candidate at point guard. Former Pac-12 studs TJ Bamba and Brandon Angel both join the team to provide a shooting/scoring punch on the wing as does Toledo transfer Ra’Heim Moss. There’s also the chance that former top-30 prospect Mookie Cook gets healthy and finally contributes. The question marks at center hold this team back from being elite but getting Dante back would make this a potential top-15 team for me.
====================================
DANA ALTMAN, OREGON
Profile: An eventual Hall of Famer, the 65-year-old brings 755 wins, one Final Four appearance and three Pac-12 (RIP) Coach of the Year honors to the Big Ten, where he’ll wind down his career these next few seasons, but not before adding another heavyweight name to the league’s roster of coaches. Altman is at his fourth head-coaching stop, as Oregon followed runs at pre-Big East Creighton, Kansas State and Marshall.
Style of Play: Altman has always had access to the sort of talent to play fast offensively, but has also been able to get quality big men aligning with Altman’s long-held belief in playing through the post. Expect flexible and pragmatic offense from the Ducks, very similar to Purdue philosophically.
Recruiting Profile: Oregon has Nike. That’s what you need to know. Oregon has been one of the most feared recruiting adversaries in college basketball and that won’t change in the NIL Era. Purdue and Oregon likely won’t encounter one another much.
Vyctorrius Miller was released from his LOI to Oregon and then committed to LSU.
5/30 N'Faly Dante denied another year of eligibility by the NCAA
6/8 Former Arizona signee Jamari Phillips commits to the Ducks.
6/14 Added transfer Supreme Cook
====================
The Oregon Ducks finished in 4th place in the Pac-12 and went on to win the Pac-12 tournament. They won a game in the NCAA tournament before losing to Creighton in OT. Dana Altman coached at Creighton for 16 years. Oregon was a very talented team that was hindered by injuries all season.
Dana Altman has been in Eugene for 14 years, winning a conference regular-season or tournament title in 7 of them. He has led the Ducks to 8 NCAA tournaments including a Final Four and an Elite Eight. He is a very good coach, who also benefits from the Nike money.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes |
| N'Faly Dante | 22 | 21 | 32 | 17 | 9.2 | 1.6 | Leads team in scoring, rebounds, blocks, and steals |
| Jermaine Couisnard | 36 | 36 | 33 | 17 | 4.6 | 3.3 | |
| Mahamadou Diawara | 36 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 2.8 | 0.4 | |
| Jesse Zarzuela | 5 | 5 | 28 | 10 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
The Ducks are losing quite a bit here. Two starters, their two leading scorers, leader in assists, #1 and #3 rebounders, and leading shot blocker.
N'Faly Dante was first-team All-Pac-12 and Cousinard was second-team. Dante was also on the All-Defensive Team.
Dante petitioned the NCAA for another year of eligibility. In his first two seasons he played in a total of 20 games. In the most recent season he only played in 22 games. However, the NCAA decided five seasons was enough.
Cousinard was led the team in assists, was second in scoring, and was third in rebounding.
Diawara started some games because at time both big men, Dante and Bittle, were out with injuries.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| . | |||||||
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes | Destination |
| Kario Oquendo | 36 | 3 | 18 | 7 | 2.4 | 1.0 | SMU | |
| Brennan Rigsby | 18 | 13 | 23 | 8 | 2.7 | 1.1 | Minnesota | |
Kario Oquendo and Brennan Rigsby were both key parts of the Duck rotation. Oquendo will be playing for former SC coach Andy Enfield.
RETURNING
| STAT | RETURNING |
| Starts | 51% |
| Minutes | 46% |
| Points | 42% |
| 3-Pointers Made | 48% |
| Rebounds | 37% |
| Assists | 48% |
| Steals | 45% |
| Blocks | 42% |
Although the Ducks are losing a lot to graduation and the portal, the cupboard is hardly bare. They are returning 4 starters. They also return a decent amount of production.
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Jackson Shelstad G | 6-0 170 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 13 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 45% | 35% | 1.7 | So | 5 | 24 |
| Nate Bittle C | 7-0 220 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 10 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 49% | 33% | 1.3 | Sr 5 | 5 | 16 |
| Keeshawn Barthelemy | 6-1 280 | 18 | 18 | 23 | 8 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 46% | 39% | 2.2 | Sr 5 | 3 | 170 |
| Jadrian Tracey G | 6-5 210 | 36 | 36 | 27 | 8 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 42% | 36% | 1.4 | Sr | Unranked | |
| Kwame Evans Jr. F | 6-9 220 | 36 | 36 | 23 | 7 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 45% | 27% | 1.4 | So | 5 | 25 |
| Mookie Cook F | 6-6 210 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 60% | 0% | 1.0 | Rs Fr | 4 | 27 |
Jackson Shelstad was on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. He had a very good freshman season, and he should be much better in his second season.
Nate Bittle has followed in the footsteps of other Oregon big men, by being injured in each of his three seasons in Eugene. He hasn't been very physical, but he is very skilled.
Barthelemy isn't a great athelete, but he is solid in all phases of the game. He is their leading returning three-point shooter.
Jadrian Tracey came from Florida Southwestern State and immediately stepped into the starting lineup.
Kwame Evans Jr. came in with high expectations and mostly lived up to them. He mostly wasn't a big scorer, but he had a couple of 22-point games. Expect a breakout season in 24-25.
Mookie Cook who is no relation to Ed "Kooky" Burns, was hurt early in the season and ended up a redshirt. It was expected he was going to play a lot, but the injury bug had other ideas.
RECRUITS
(#53 class, #12 in B1G)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Jamari Phillips | 6-3 190 | SG | 4 | 47 | Arizona, Kansas, UCLA, Illinois |
| Ibrahima Traore | 6-8 220 | F | 3 | 192 | Charleston, Texas State |
| Dezdrick Lindsay | 6-7 | F | Unranked | ||
Vyctorrius Miller was released from his LOI to Oregon and then committed to LSU. You might say LSU was eventually victorious in the battle for his services.
After losing a 4-star shooting guard, Coach Altman found an even high-ranked 4-star shooting guard. The magic of Nike strikes again.
Knowing Altman's approach, I imagine Traore is a great athlete and shot blocker.
Dezdrick Lindsay is a JUCO transfer from Florida Southwestern State, where he averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 27 games with 10 starts
TRANSFERRING IN
As has been the pattern for Oregon, the real action is in the portal.
| SOURCE | NATIONAL CLASS RANK | BIG TEN CLASS RANK |
| 247 | 30 | 8 |
| Evan Miya | 40 | 6 |
Back when all the other coaches were trying to recruit high schoool stars, Dana Altman was the master of the transfer. Just about every year, he would fill his holes in his roster with mature, experienced players. These days he has to compete with everyone in the transfer market, but he still has that Nike money, which he can now funnel into NIL.
Altman can still find quality players in the portal. This may be rated the 8th best class in the league, but I think it is a damned good one. These guys all started for their previous teams and three of the four stated for major conference teams.
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | A/TO | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Transfer Rank |
| Brandon Angel | 6-8 240 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 13 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 57% | 45% | 1.0 | Stanford | Sr 5 | 3 | 237 | 90 |
| T.J. Bamba | 6-5 215 | 33 | 33 | 28 | 10 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 43% | 27% | 1.3 | Villanova | Sr | Unranked | 70 | |
| Ra'Heim Moss | 6-4 205 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 16 | 5.4 | 3.0 | 46% | 31% | 1.2 | Toledo | Sr | Unranked | 230 | |
| Supreme Cook | 6-9 229 | 32 | 32 | 27 | 11 | 8.0 | 0.6 | 58% | -- | 0.4 | Georgetown | Sr 5 | Unranked | 296 |
Brandon Angel was the second-leading scorer and rebounder in Palo Alto, behind only Maxime Raynaud. He's an excellent player who should start for the Ducks.
TJ Bamba was a full-time starter at Washington State before becoming a full-time starter at Villanova where he was their 2nd-leading scorer. He should play a lot and might challenge for a starting role.
Ra'Heim Moss led the Rockets in assists and was second in points and rebounds for the champions of the MAC.
As far as I know Supreme Cook never beat Bobby Flay, but he did lead the Hoyas in rebounds. He was #9 in the country in offensive rebounds per game while only averaging 27 minutes.
CONCLUSION
This is one of the best rosters in the Big Ten for next season. They have talent, with three 5-star players, the most in the league. They have a couple of highly-ranked 4-star players. They also have a bunch of guys who were starters for Power 6 teams. They have size. They have outside shooting. They have one of the best coaches in the business.
I suspect the Ducks will be the surprise team in the league and compete for the Big Ten Title. If they can stay healthy, I think they compete with UCLA, Michigan State, and Indiana for the conference title. Underestimate Dana Altman at your own risk.
Torvick projects Oregon as the #44 team in the country and #11 team in the B1G. He projects a 20-11 record and 12-8 in the B1G.
247 picks Oregon to finish 4th in the Big Ten.
Lundari predicts Oregon as "First Four Out".
Vrooman picks the Ducks to finish tied for 9th with Michigan State. He writes:
t-9th. Oregon Ducks
Projected Adjusted Efficiency Margin: +17.81 (+14.19 last year)
Coaching Info: Dana Altman -1.63 (59th)
5 Highest Rated Players: G Jackson Shelstad (12.8 pts, 2.8 ast), F Kwame Evans (7.3 pts, 4.9 reb), 6’8 F Brandon Angel (Stanford- 13.0 pts, 44.7% 3pt), G 6’5 TJ Bamba (Villanova- 10.1 pts, 3.6 reb), 6’4 G Ra’Heim Moss (Toledo- 15.5 pts, 5.4 reb)
Altman was one of the coaches most negatively affected by my decision to weight more recent seasons more heavily. The Ducks haven’t overachieved in my model in 5 years and have now underachieved in 6 of the last 8. Only once in the last 13 years have they finished worse than 75th at KenPom so Altman never lets them hit rock bottom but between injuries and roster churn they also haven’t finished better than 42nd the last 3 years after doing so 5 of the previous 6 years.
It’s worth noting that Oregon is one of the few schools that could still dramatically improve their roster. They are still seeking a waiver for center N’Faly Dante and he immediately becomes one of, if not the best center in the B1G next season if he plays. Without him they’ll be relying on Nate Bittle to finally be healthy (similar to UW with former Duck Franck Kepnang). Kwame Evans Jr. has the rim protection skills to be a small ball center but that’s better as a change of pace look than your only real center.
The good news (for Oregon) is they are loaded with guards and wings. Jackson Shelstad had an impressive true freshman season and is a clear breakout candidate at point guard. Former Pac-12 studs TJ Bamba and Brandon Angel both join the team to provide a shooting/scoring punch on the wing as does Toledo transfer Ra’Heim Moss. There’s also the chance that former top-30 prospect Mookie Cook gets healthy and finally contributes. The question marks at center hold this team back from being elite but getting Dante back would make this a potential top-15 team for me.
====================================
DANA ALTMAN, OREGON
Profile: An eventual Hall of Famer, the 65-year-old brings 755 wins, one Final Four appearance and three Pac-12 (RIP) Coach of the Year honors to the Big Ten, where he’ll wind down his career these next few seasons, but not before adding another heavyweight name to the league’s roster of coaches. Altman is at his fourth head-coaching stop, as Oregon followed runs at pre-Big East Creighton, Kansas State and Marshall.
Style of Play: Altman has always had access to the sort of talent to play fast offensively, but has also been able to get quality big men aligning with Altman’s long-held belief in playing through the post. Expect flexible and pragmatic offense from the Ducks, very similar to Purdue philosophically.
Recruiting Profile: Oregon has Nike. That’s what you need to know. Oregon has been one of the most feared recruiting adversaries in college basketball and that won’t change in the NIL Era. Purdue and Oregon likely won’t encounter one another much.