2010-11 College Basketball Season Preview: Oregon

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, David Kay and Peter Christian of the The Sports Bank. Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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Oregon (Last Year: 16-16, 7-11 in Pac-10)



2010-11 Projected Depth Chart:


F/C: Jeremy Jacob (Jr)/Tyrone Nared (Jr)

PF: Joevan Catron (Sr)

G/F: E.J. Singler (So)

G: LeKendric Longmire (Sr)/Teondre Williams (Jr)

PG: Malcolm Armstead (Jr)/Garrett Sim (Jr)/Johnathan Loyd (Fr)

Gone: PG-Tajuan Porter, SG-Matthew Humphrey (transfer-Boston College), PF-Drew Wiley (transfer-Boise State), PF-Josh Crittle (transfer-Central Florida), SF-Jamil Wilson (transfer-Marquette)



2010-11 Outlook:
The latest trend in college basketball hit the Ducks this summer. A new coach comes in; current players leave the program. Four players decided to transfer from Oregon and it was almost five until Malcolm Armstead changed his mind and chose to stay with the Ducks. These departures leave Dana Altman somewhat short-handed heading into his first season in Eugene.

Altman arrives after a very successful 16-year stint at Creighton, (and Oregon shooting an air ball in trying to make a splash hire) replacing Ernie Kent whose 13-year tenure in Eugene came to an end. Even despite all the transfers and loss of leading scorer Tajuan Porter to graduation, the Ducks return their next seven leading scorers. Senior Joevan Catron was granted a redshirt senior year after only playing in four games last season due to injury and should provide some physicality inside.

The Ducks will open up a brand new arena in January but by then fans might be more interested in seeing the new stadium than watching the team on the court. The Pac-10 was as weak last season as it has been in quite some time, and Oregon still struggled. The conference will be slightly stronger this season which does not bold well for Altman and company.





Player to Watch: Michael Dunigan, C
Despite coming to Oregon with a lot of hype from Farragut Academy, the same high school that produced Kevin Garnett, Dunigan has been quite the disappointment in his first two seasons. The 6-10 big body has been incredibly inconsistent and as a result, pulled in and out of the starting lineup at various times. The Ducks will need him to become more of a force and reliable in the post since they lack a great deal of height. There is league potential for Dunigan; it is just a matter of whether or not he can tap into this season.

(UPDATE: Dunigan has left Oregon to sign a contract to play overseas in Israel.)



Key Non-Conference Games:
  • 11/27 vs. Duke
  • 12/2 vs. Missouri
  • 12/17 at Virginia



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