With basketball season rapidly approaching, we’re going team-by-team in the Big Ten to assess where everyone stands and how things could shake out this year.
Oregon’s 2023-24 season ended with a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Creighton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. That defeat left Dana Altman’s team agonizingly short of a third Sweet 16 appearance in the last five tournaments. Now, the Ducks enter the Big Ten with high hopes of making an immediate splash.
WHO’S GONE:
- N’Faly Dante (17.0 PPG) (exhausted his eligibility)
- Jermaine Cousinard (16.6 PPG) (exhausted his eligibility)
- Jesse Zarzuela (10.0 PPG) (exhausted his eligibility)
- Kario Oquendo (7.2 PPG) (transfer — SMU)
- Brennan Rigsby (6.1 PPG) (transfer — Minnesota)
- Mahamadou Diawara (2.0 PPG) (exhausted his eligibility)
WHO’S BACK:
- Jackson Shelstad, G (12.8 PPG)
- Nate Bittle, C (10.0 PPG)
- Keeshawn Barthelemy, G (7.9 PPG)
- Jadrian Tracey, G (7.6 PPG)
- Kwame Evans Jr., F (7.3 PPG)
- Mookie Cook, F (1.2 PPG)
WHO’S NEW:
Transfer portal
- Ra’Heim Moss, G (15.5 PPG at Toledo)
- Jayson Williams-Johnson, G (14.2 PPG at Division III Muhlenberg College)
- Brandon Angel, F (13.0 PPG at Stanford)
- Supreme Cook, F (10.5 PPG at Georgetown)
- TJ Bamba, G (10.1 PPG at Villanova)
- Dez Lindsay, F (Juco)
Freshmen (Rankings from 247Sports Composite)
- Jamari Phillips, G (four-star, No. 48)
RETURNING MINUTES: 50.4 percent (per barttorvik.com)
Why it will work
It starts with Jackson Shelstad, who made the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team last year. He should take a step forward this year, and should be among the top 25 players in the conference. Oregon looks to have good pieces around him, as well. TJ Bamba, Supreme Cook, Brandon Angel, and Ra’Heim Moss all look like potentially solid transfer portal additions. And Nate Bittle, Keeshawn Barthelemy, Jadrian Tracey, and Kwame Evans Jr. are all useful returnees. This could be one of the deepest teams in the Big Ten this season. Altman immediately becomes one of the most experienced coaches in the Big Ten, and he’s developed the Ducks into a consistently successful program.
Why it won’t
Oregon is losing its two best players from last season in Jermaine Cousinard (16.6 points per game) and N’Faly Dante (17 points, 9.2 rebounds per game). It’s fair to ask whether the Ducks can fill those voids. Additionally, if Shelstad doesn’t rise to an All-Big Ten level this season, Oregon might lack the firepower to hang with some of the best teams in the conference.
Our take
The Ducks look good. They’ve finished outside the top four in the Pac-12 only three times under Altman, with one of those being his first season in Eugene. Moving to the Big Ten will be a different challenge, as will the added travel that comes along with it. But it’s hard to see Oregon finishing outside the top half of the conference standings. The Ducks should be in the upper third of the league, and if things break right, they could contend with the top teams in the conference. It feels like they’re just outside the top tier going into the season, but make no mistake: Oregon will be tough this year.
BIG TEN OUTLOOK: Sleeper
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