There was arguably not a team that was a bigger disappointment last season than the Oregon Ducks. Multiple big losses will hurt but a good group of newcomers will try to make up for them. Dana Altman is one of the best and most consistent head coaches in the country. The Ducks have won at least one game in the NCAA in seven of the years since 2012-2013.
You can view the previous team in my rankings here.
Preseason College Basketball Rankings: #19 Oregon Ducks
By far the biggest thing for this Ducks squad is that they got Will Richardson back. The fifth-year senior averaged career highs in almost every category last season. He made over half of his shots from inside the arc last season and made almost 40% from outside the arc. He also led the team in points, assists, and steals. Richardson is one of the best guards in the nation and will be in contention for PAC-12 Player of the Year.
Former Syracuse transfer Quincy Guerrier returns too. He has the potential to be one of the better forwards in the PAC-12 this season. His scoring and rebounding numbers dipped a lot last year in his first year in Eugene. But that can be attributed to the crazy amount of inconsistency from this team as well as the adjustment from transferring to the complete opposite side of the country. N’Faly Dante was a five star recruit coming out of high school in 2019. After finally playing the whole year last season, he could be a breakout candidate this season. Nathan Bittle is another highly touted center that the Ducks have. He was a five star recruit coming out of high school last year. He played very little last season, but there has been a lot of buzz around him coming into this season.
Oregon added a third potentially dominant center in top 10 recruit Kel’el Ware. While he is still very raw right now, he has great size, elite upside, and a ton of potential on both ends of the floor. In addition to Ware, the Ducks also bring in two impact transfers out on the perimeter. Point guard Keeshawn Barthelemy averaged over 11 points per game last season for Colorado, and combo guard Jermaine Couisnard averaged double-figures in each of the past three seasons for South Carolina.
Projected Lineup
C – Kel’el Ware (#10 overall recruit on 247 Sports)
C – N’Faly Dante (8.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.7 SPG, 1.0 BPG)
F – Quincy Guerrier (10.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG)
G – Jermaine Couisnard (12 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG)
PG – Will Richardson (14.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.0 BPG)
