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NCAA Basketball: Biggest winners and losers of 2019 offseason

By Brian Rauf

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Dana Altman yells at Payton Pritchard (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Dana Altman yells at Payton Pritchard (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Head coach Dana Altman of the Oregon Ducks reacts against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Head coach Dana Altman of the Oregon Ducks reacts against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Winner: Oregon

After making the Sweet 16 last season, many were high on the group the Ducks had returning. They were ranked in virtually every way-too-early top 25 – but then the bottom fell out, or at least it looked like it was going to.

Five players left early, leaving Oregon with just six players on the roster. Not great!

What head coach Dana Altman was able to do after that point was phenomenal. He added three more players in the 2019 recruiting class – two of whom (N’Faly Dante, Addison Patterson) reclassified and left high school a year early – and landed two grad transfers, headlined by 6-7 forward Shakur Juiston.

Now there’s plenty of hype in Eugene again about what the Ducks can accomplish this year. Five-star wing CJ Walker will play a big role as well, but the return of point guard Payton Pritchard – one of the country’s best players – is what puts this group over the top.

The enter 2019-20 as the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 and have the potential to be a top 10 team in the country should all of their new pieces come together.

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