Post by mhbruin on Apr 2, 2024 9:57:42 GMT -8
CHANGES
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Next are the Oregon Ducks who 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, although the Nike money has helped.
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 | 19 | 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 and one-half starters, their two leading scorers, leader in assists, #1 and #3 rebounders, and leading shot blocker.
Dante was first-team All-Pac-12 and Cousinard was second-team. Dante was also on the All-Defensive Team.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
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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 | |
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Kario Oquendo and Brennan Rigsby were both key parts of the Duck rotation. Rigsby 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.
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Jackson Shelstad G | 32 | 32 | 33 | 13 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 45% | 35% | 1.7 | So | 5 | 24 |
| Nate Bittle C | 5 | 6 | 17 | 10 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 49% | 33% | 1.3 | Sr 5 | 5 | 16 |
| Keeshawn Barthelemy | 18 | 18 | 23 | 8 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 46% | 39% | 2.2 | Sr 5 | 3 | 170 |
| Jadrian Tracey | 36 | 36 | 27 | 8 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 42% | 36% | 1.4 | Sr | Unranked | |
| Kwame Evans Jr. | 36 | 36 | 23 | 7 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 45% | 27% | 1.4 | So | 5 | 25 |
| Mookie Cook | 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 could be much better in his second season.
Nate Bittle has followed in the footsteps of other Oregon big men, but 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.
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
(#100 class, #18 in B1G)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Ibrahima Traore | 6-8 220 | F | 3 | 192 | Charleston, Texas State |
| Dezdrick Lindsay | 6-7 | F | Unranked | ||
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This is a VERY weak class by Oregon standards. 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
The real action is likely to be in the portal.
TRANSFERRING IN
(#19 class, #18 in B1G)
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 which he can now funnel into NIL.
This is not the kind of class he used to get, but he is still getting players who can play the game.
| 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 |
CONCLUSION
Torvick projects Oregon as the #41 team in the country and #12 team in the B1G. He projects a 20-11 record and 12-8 in the B1G.
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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.