For a school that is probably more known for Marcus Mariotta and Justin Herbert than it is Luke Ridnour and Payton Pritchard, over the last few years, Dana Altman has been as steady as they come on the basketball floor for Oregon Basketball.
Since 2015-16, the Ducks have made two Sweet 16 appearances, made an Elite Eight, and reached a Final Four. Oregon has been the measure of consistency in the Pac-12 since he arrived and this season, Oregon should once again be a title contender in the conference.
Coming off a year when they made another run to the Sweet Sixteen, unlike a lot of teams this summer, while Oregon got hit by the transfer portal, their key losses came from players’ decisions to turn pro and graduation.
In order to rebuild his roster, Altman added some key additions from the transfer portal that includes De’Vion Harmon from Oklahoma, Quincy Guerrier from Syracuse, and Jacob Young from Rutgers, with the trio averaging over 40 points per game last season. He is also hoping for a big impact from his star recruit, 6-11 center Nate Bittle who is ranked the 27th best recruit in the country by 247Sports.
With these talent acquisitions supplementing a strong returning core of seniors Will Richardson and Eric Williams to go along with third-year big man N’Faly Dante, the Ducks look to be favorites to defend their Pac-12 title. Here is a look at what to expect from the defending conference champions for the 2021-22 season.
Oregon didn’t get off to the greatest start last season, their center tore his ACL six games into the season and their best guard missed the first half of the season. However, they went on to another Sweet Sixteen and this year both of those guys are healthy.