Oregon Ducks
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #20
Conference Rank: #2 Pac-12
Oregon won their second straight Pac-12 title and their fourth in the last six years. The result has been four trips to the Sweet Sixteen or beyond during that span of five NCAA Tournaments. Three starters are gone, but Coach Dana Altman has a trio of talented players returning and has brought in four transfers to go along with a good recruiting class.
2020-21 Record: 21-7, 14-4
2020-21 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Dana Altman
Coach Record: 280-109 at Oregon, 690-352 overall
Key Departed Players:
Eugene Omoruyi, Forward, 17.1 ppg
Chris Duarte, Guard, 17.1 ppg
LJ Figueroa, Guard/Forward, 12.3 ppg
Chandler Lawson, Forward, 4.4 ppg
Amauri Hardy, Guard, 3.9 ppg
Jalen Terry, Guard, 2.9 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Will Richardson, Senior, Guard, 11.3 ppg
Eric Williams Jr, Senior, Forward, 10.0 ppg
N’Faly Dante, Junior, Center, 8.2 ppg
Frank Kepnang, Sophomore, Center, 2.6 ppg
Lok Wur, Sophomore, Forward, 1.5 ppg
Key New Players:
Nate Bittle, Freshman, Center
Ethan Butler, Freshman, Forward
Quincy Guerrier, Junior, Forward, Transfer from Syracuse
De’Vion Harmon, Junior, Guard, Transfer from Oklahoma
Isaac Johnson, Freshman, Center
Rivaldo Soares, Junior, Guard, JC Transfer
Jacob Young, Senior, Guard, Transfer from Rutgers
Projection:
Will Richardson was not healthy until February of last season, but played very well after that, averaging 11.3 points and 3.9 assists. N’Faly Dante was only healthy for six games last year and his absence really hurt the Ducks frontcourt depth. In those six starts, Dante tallied 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He will join Eric Williams Jr. in the starting frontcourt. Last year the 6-6 senior averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. Those three will form the core group for Coach Altman, but the three Division I transfers will play a huge role too. De’Vion Harmon started during his two seasons at Oklahoma and averaged 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists a season ago. Jacob Young comes from Rutgers where he tallied 14.1 points and 3.4 assists last year. Richardson, Harmon and Young will eat up just about all of the minutes at the point and shooting guard spots. Quincy Guerrier and Nate Bittle will help bolster the frontcourt. Guerrier transferred in from Syracuse and that means Coach Altman can play with a more traditional power forward most of the time. Guerrier is a beast on the glass and always plays tough defense. He also averaged 13.7 points per game last year with the Orange. Bittle is a versatile seven-footer who can handle and shoot the ball. He can play the four or five spot and give the Ducks potentially a ton of size in their lineups. It remains to be seen how Coach Altman will utilize all of his players this season, but he certainly has the talent on hand to make another Sweet Sixteen run.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 74.9 (81st in nation, 3rd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 68.4 (114, 5)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.2 (39, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 44.1 (208, 8)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.4 (74, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.7 (21, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.1 (168, 8)
Rebound Margin: 1.0 (153, 6)
Assists Per Game: 13.9 (115, 4)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.4 (53, 4)
Madness 2022 NBA Draft Rankings:
#26 Will Richardson
#34 N'Faly Diante
Madness 2021 Men’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#24 Nathan Bittle
