The Sports Bank’s college basketball season previews undergo a facelift this season. Rather than counting down the top 111 teams in 111 days, we will go conference-by-conference, breaking down each team beginning with the Pac-12.
As if losing five key players from last season wasn’t enough, the Oregon Ducks were forced to dismiss three key players stemming from an off-the-court incident. As a result, Dana Altman loses ten guys from a year ago and enters the upcoming season with only nine, maybe just eight scholarship players.
OREGON DUCKS
Last Season: T-3rd, 10-8 in Pac-10, 24-10 overall
Predicted Pac-12 Finish: 8th
Projected Depth Chart
C: Michael Chandler (Jr)
F: Elgin Cook (Sr)/Dwayne Benjamin (Jr)
G/F: Jordan Bell (Fr)/Jalil Abdul-Bassit (Jr)
G: Joseph Young (Sr)/Casey Benson (Fr)
PG: JaQuan Lyle (Fr)/Ahmaad Rorie (Fr)
Gone: PF-Mike Moser, PG-Johnathan Loyd, SG-Jason Calliste, C-Waverly Austin, PF-Richard Amardi, SG-Damyean Dotson (transfer-), SF- Brandon Austin (transfer-Northwest Florida State College), PG-Dominic Artis (transfer-Diablo Valley College), F/C-Ben Carter (transfer-UNLV), SG-A.J. Lapray (transfer-Pepperdine)
2014-2015 Outlook:
With the massive amount of turnover on the roster, only two players return with any significant playing experience. Joseph Young is a talented combo guard who averaged almost 19 points per game last season and will need to produce even more this year. Elgin Cook brings a solid combination of athleticism, physicality, and aggressiveness to the forward position, and should see an expanded role this year.
A trio of freshmen guards will compete for minutes in the backcourt alongside Young. 6-5 JaQuan Lyle is the most talented of that group and should start at point guard from day one IF he is declared eligible. Due to reported academics issues, Lyle might not suit up for the Ducks at all this season which would be a huge blow for an already thin roster. Ahmaad Rorie is a former Cal commit who will see quality minutes whether it is in a starting role or coming off the bench while fellow freshman Casey Benson and seldom-used Jalil Abdul-Bassit should also figure into the rotation as Altman may be forced to use a smaller lineup for significant stretches.
Besides Cook, the only other options at forward are JUCO transfer Dwayne Benjamin and Jordan Bell who wasn’t eligible to play last season due to a subpar SAT score. Bell is long and extremely athletic and should help on the glass and as a shotblocker while Benjamin was a terrific scorer at the junior college level and should provide some offensive ability to the frontcourt.
Another JUCO transfer, Michael Chandler is the lone big man on the roster. Chandler has an interesting path to Eugene as he had previously been committed to Louisville, Xavier, and UCF before being deemed ineligible and having to start his collegiate career at Northwest Florida State. Outside of Chandler, there is no real big man on the roster which is why Altman will have to play small quite a bit since Cook, Benjamin, or Bell will be forced to play out of position.
After a rough off-season, the regular season figures to be a challenge for the short-handed Ducks. As a result, expect Oregon to take a big time step back in the Pac-12 and miss out on the NCAA Tournament.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/21 vs. Toledo
11/24 vs. Michigan (Legends Classic in Brooklyn)
11/25 vs. Villanova/VCU (Legends Classic in Brooklyn)
12/7 vs. Ole Miss
12/13 vs. Illinois (in Chicago)
OTHER PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.