NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
13. Oregon Ducks
It took over a month before head coach Dana Altman ventured into the transfer portal last offseason, which was concerning for a while. They were able to land some gems, including guards De’Vion Harmon and Jacob Young, along with JUCO All-American Rivaldo Soares and former Syracuse forward Quincy Guerrier.
Yet through 10 games, it’s been nothing short of a disaster. Losses to Arizona State and Stanford already have them 0-2 in Pac-12 play, along with three straight losses earlier (Houston, BYU, Saint Mary’s) in which the Ducks failed to score 50 points in each of them. Just Will Richardson and Eric Williams are averaging in double figures, neither more than 12.0 ppg.
STANFORD BEATS OREGON AT THE BUZZER on the Jaiden Delaire (@JaidenDelaire) Buzzer Beating 3 pic.twitter.com/M5KnrB4kFW
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) December 13, 2021
Guerrier went from a potential leading scorer to just 5th currently with 7.4 ppg and has completely regressed since last season. But the biggest problem has been the frontcourt overall, with four former top-40 prospects (N’Faly Dante, Isaac Johnson, Nathan Bittle, Franck Kepnang) combining to produce next to nothing collectively. And with the backcourt playing average at best, that’s a recipe for being .500 overall.
It’s hard to say what the answer is outside of everyone playing together. The transfers brought in were 3rd or 4th best players at their former spots so this is likely who they are. And Richardson isn’t the kind of “point guard” that makes his teammates better. Unless they beat UCLA or Arizona, their NCAA Tournament hopes are on ice that’s already cracking.