Welcome to my team preview series for 2024-25. Each day between now and the start of the college basketball season, I will preview one team or conference, both on Instagram (@collegehoopsoutlet) and through an article here. The preview will go in-depth on the roster build of the team, my expectations for their upcoming season, and the state of the program under their current head coach.
Oregon (Projected: 4th in B1G)
One of the current legends in the college basketball coaching world, Dana Altman, will be entering his 15th season at Oregon this fall. The Ducks have reached the tournament just once in the last three seasons, and Altman will be looking to fix that trend this season. With a talented group of returners and a couple of incoming transfers from former rivals, the Ducks have the capabilities to get back to the NCAA Tournament and go deep this time around.
There’s plenty of returners for the Ducks to get excited about, but none will have more buzz surrounding them than sophomore point guard Jackson Shelstad (13 ppg). Already having garnered comparisons to Oregon great Payton Pritchard after coming from the same high school, Shelstad will look to make a jump like Pritchard did later in his career, taking over as the leader of the backcourt. Shelstad was an efficient scorer as a freshman and flashed his ability to create for his teammates as well. If he can continue to develop as a scoring point guard, there’s no limit for what awards he can win and how far Oregon can go in the NCAA Tournament this March.
Alongside Shelstad in the backcourt will be returners Jadrian Tracey (8 ppg) and Keeshawn Barthelemy (8 ppg). Both are entering their senior seasons, and while a breakout isn’t expected from either, a boost in production from both of them will be the key to helping Shelstad with the load in the backcourt. The frontcourt has its own fair share of returners, highlighted by senior center Nate Bittle (10 ppg, 5 rpg). Bittle went down with an injury just five games into last season but had already proved to be a force in the paint in games against Georgia and Montana. Kwame Evans Jr. (7 ppg, 5 rpg) returns as a sophomore, a highly touted recruit that could be pegged for a breakout season after a couple of guys ahead of him in the frontcourt rotation left. Mookie Cook (1 ppg) battled injury his entire freshman year, appearing in just five games, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of role he can carve out in the Ducks’ rotation this season.
Six players left Oregon this offseason, all of whom were a part of the Ducks’ rotation at one point or another throughout the season. N’Faly Dante (17 ppg, 9 rpg) and Jermaine Couisnard (17 ppg, 5 rpg) will be the biggest losses, both vital components to the Ducks’ NCAA Tournament run this past March. Jesse Zarzuela (10 ppg), Kario Oquendo (7 ppg), Brennan Rigsby (6 ppg), and Mahamadou Diawara (2 ppg) were the other four Ducks who departed.
Dana Altman added four experienced transfers to help replace the losses this offseason. TJ Bamba (10 ppg, 4 rpg at Villanova) transfers in from Villanova to help out the backcourt, a year removed from a 16 ppg campaign at Washington State in 2022-23. If Bamba can get back to the elite scoring form he was in, he and Shelstad will be a very formidable backcourt in the Big Ten. Ra’Heim Moss (16 ppg, 5 rpg at Toledo) should also be a big help to the Ducks’ backcourt, coming into Eugene after a breakout year at Toledo as a junior.
The other two transfers for the Ducks should have key roles in the frontcourt. Brandon Angel (13 ppg, 5 rpg at Stanford) emerged as an efficient three-level scorer in the Pac 12 last season and should be a starter for Altman’s squad. I believe Angel is one of the more underrated transfer pickups across the country this offseason, and he should have a big impact on the Ducks’ success as another scoring option. Supreme Cook (11 ppg, 8 rpg at Georgetown) had a successful first season at the power conference level last year for Georgetown, and now joins Oregon as a likely bench option for the Ducks’ frontcourt. The depth and talent of the Ducks’ frontcourt with Cook, Angel, Evans Jr., and Bittle should not be taken lightly in the Big Ten.
To finish out the recruiting class, Altman added a JUCO transfer, a D-III transfer, and a high school recruit. Dez Lindsay (JUCO) should see time on the wing for the Ducks, an athletic 6-6 wing who was teammates with Jadrian Tracey a year ago at Florida SouthWestern State. Jayson Williams-Johnson (D3) transfers in from Muhlenberg College (PA) after three seasons, adding a bit of experience and scoring to the Ducks’ backcourt. Jamari Phillips (4*, NAT 52) joins the Ducks out of high school, a former Arizona commit who could see a small role in the backcourt as a freshman.
Dana Altman hasn’t had quite the same success at Oregon in recent years as compared to the Ducks’ stretch from 2013-2021 but has the roster talent to make another NCAA Tournament run this season. People have suggested in recent years that Altman just isn’t who he used to be, but having a fully healthy roster has been an extremely rare commodity for him in recent seasons. If the core of this year’s team stays healthy, there’s no reason they can’t compete at the top of the Big Ten.
Jackson Shelstad could be one of the breakout players in all of college basketball this season, and I’d like to make it known that I am right in line with that thinking. Shelstad has already showed prowess as a scorer and creator at the power conference level, and with the backcourt now fully his, his numbers should soar. My X-factor for this Ducks’ team is TJ Bamba. I think Bamba returning to his production of a year ago at Washington State is the key alongside Shelstad’s breakout to a great year for the Ducks.
The Big Ten is very open this season at the top, and I think the Ducks have nearly as good of a chance as any of the other teams to come out on top. For prediction purposes here in early September, I’ll place the Ducks at 4th in the Big Ten, but that may change when I release my Big Ten Conference preview in late October.