Great to see some OL recruits finally in the class.  That is one of the most important positions to recruit from HS, IMO.  Now they just need to land Nacho and we are all set.  

On 6/28/2025 at 2:39 PM, 30Duck said:

As far as USC, is throwing $$$ at high school kids really a strategy?

The way I see it, USC had no choice.  They have been circling the drain for a while.  They lost a bunch of guys to the portal that were starters or significant contributors. 
 

I would have done the same thing.  Sign 35 kids by throwing money at them and see what sticks.  Desperate times for USC for sure right now.  

On 6/27/2025 at 9:00 PM, Charles Fischer said:

We have 10 verbals right now and with a loaded young team, it makes sense to take maybe 15 or 16 total and save the money for the portal candidates in the future, since there will probably be quite a few of them!
 

Agree.  We need to close on a few of these OL guys.  If we do that, I will be happy. 

Gonzaga is now going to be Gonzaga State until the end of time for me. 

I like the strategy, but what happens when a school like ATM, USC, or osu2 does both?  They throw money at HS kids AND throw money to the transfer portal.  

On 6/12/2025 at 4:21 AM, NJDuck said:

 

Oregon Ducks To Land 4-Star Recruit Maximo Adams Over USC Trojans, SMU Mustangs?

 

The Oregon Ducks are looking to begin their 2026 recruiting class with a solid foundation and have locked onto four-star forward Maximo Adams as one of their top targets. Oregon coach Dana Altman is battling with USC Trojans and SMU Mustangs to land the California native.

 

Oregon Ducks Favorites Over USC, SMU For Four-Star Recruit Maximo Adams?

WWW.SI.COM

---

The Oregon Ducks have been recruiting four-star forward Maximo Adams for over two years and have spent valuable time in trying to bring the talented California

 

 

I think Penn State will end up winning the conference title.  IMO, people are sleeping on how much talent and experience they return.  Illinois will finish in the Top 4 as well with Oregon and osu2
 

UW is still a year or two away.  

The only silver lining in this is that we have some excellent young DBs and a couple of DB commits already.  So probably doesn’t hurt too bad.  Same with the DB that just committed to Notre Dame.

 

Where are the OL guys in 2026?  That’s my big concern right now.  

 

 We don’t want to be USC and have 22 DBs on the roster and no linemen. 

Finally!!!!   Let’s go!

Ugh. Swing and another miss……

 

🤮

On 6/9/2025 at 10:28 PM, Charles Fischer said:

And there are pitfalls, costs and risks to that strategy too.  What if you had a former 5-Star QB who you knew would be super when it was his turn...and it did not turn out that way? And it cost you a 'Natty?

 

Naw...Georgia fans wouldn't know anything about that!  😉

 

 

Oregon has had several recent 4* and 5* recruits that didn’t pan out. Most of them didn’t do much better after transferring. Thompson, Burmeister, Butterfield, Jonson, Rodrigues, Mahalak all come to mind. 

 

We are in a scary period.  I hope you are right.  If so, we will probably be okay. 
 

Very concerned that Oregon has not had a 2026 commit stick since February. 

I don't usually worry to much about missing on guys here and there.  However, there has been a clear shift in strategy over the past 4 months, with Oregon losing 4 and 5* commits and consistently missing on high end prospects.  This is becoming a trend and is very concerning.  

 

As David pointed out above and I agree with, it is challenging to get recruits to Eugene.  But Oregon had built an advantage in two areas...brand and money.  Oregon had the funds to compete with the big boys in the NIL game, and now they are going to pull back?  I think that is a massive mistake. 

 

Losing out of Greene and Cantwell is huge and extremely disappointing.  If you have money to spend on recruiting, those are the two guys you really needed.  You can try and live off portal talent for OL play, but I am not sure that will get you to the promised land. Here is an excellent article posted by Smith 72 on why consistently, talent, and experience playing in a system with the same teammates for several years is so critical to the success of OLs.  

 

 

 

Best Oregon news I have heard in months.  Who’s your starting 5 as of today?  Hopefully they add another guard. 
 

Shelstad - lock

Simpkins - combo guard on a roster very short on guards.  

Lindsay - can play multiple positions.  Shot better than 50% from the floor and better than 40% from three.  Rebounds well. Does lots of little things.  Will it translate to the next level?  My bet is yes.  He will be the surprise player on this roster. 

Evans - lock

Bittle - lock 

On 5/28/2025 at 1:20 PM, 30Duck said:

It's looked like Oregon will not put the $$ up for basketball, Oregon is a Football School. UNC, though it did hire BB, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, are Basketball Schools. Michigan is trying to be both.

Oregon was killing it in football recruiting over the past three years.  Now this offseason, something has clearly changed.  They have missed on a 1/2 dozen top level recruits and had multiple key decommitments over the past three months.  
 

Oregon has 7 total commitments and is in danger of dropping out of the Top25 recruiting rankings, all while most teams are nearing 3/4 to full capacity recruiting classes. 
 

I am not convinced that Oregon wants to participate in the market right now in any sport. 
 

And I agree with your point.  There is an article a while back that I linked here that indicated that Oregon’s basketball NIL budget was in the neighborhood of $2M.  Michigan, Maryland and other top teams in the BIG are spending $8-$10M on their roster. Sure sounds like a fast way to the bottom. 
 

The worst part, is that Altman will probably take the blame if this team misses the tourney this year. It doesn’t seem fair to give a guy a Yugo, then expect him to win the Indy 500.  

On 5/26/2025 at 9:01 AM, 30Duck said:

Oregon basketball has shown that it can't, won't match NIL with the bluebloods for the star players, Dame Sarr expressed an interest in Oregon, but he'll end up at Kansas or Duke or Kentucky. 

What’s the hang up here?  Does anyone know?   On the surface, having 1/4 of the NIL budget of the top teams in your conference in a revenue generating sport does not seem like a successful strategy. 

Also happy to see this.  However, while non-revenue sports may not be going backwards, the men’s basketball program certainly appears to be doing so.  

On 5/17/2025 at 3:45 PM, Steven A said:

Is this 2 Mil frosh a free agent next year?

This.  It’s almost better at QB and OL to pick up proven talent in the portal.  Let someone else pay them $2M to get them trained up the first and maybe second year. 

This makes too much sense, so it will never happen. 🤣

On 5/12/2025 at 8:29 PM, David Marsh said:

You have the right to your opinion. 

 

Right now with two toddlers I have enjoyed the 7pm start time games because both kids are in bed and I get to watch the game uninterrupted... Or mostly uninterrupted. 

 

But I also know that I'm in the minority for that opinion. 

 

Granted I don't mind a 9am game in truth. I'm usually up by then anyways because of the children. However, my eldest doesn't like anyone watching anything on the TV that isn't Bluey or Dino Train these days. 

Bluey is the best kid’s show on TV.  I am probably going to watch that with my daughter instead of some 9am kickoff game that doesn’t involve the Ducks.  
 

But I know that I’m the only adult with that opinion.  

Finally someone who averages over 4PPG!   Seriously though, this seems like a decent pick up.  He rebounds well and can block some shots.  He can also score a little bit and supplement Evans, Bittle, and Shelstad.  
 

There are a lot of forwards on this roster - Pryor, Evans, Stewart, Lindsay, Kobzystyi.  

 

Oregon still needs a couple of guards that can shoot it from deep very badly.  Sarr is still a must have. 
 

 

On 5/5/2025 at 7:54 PM, kirklandduck said:

In the end I think his parents influenced his decision due to the distance. 

Parents and girlfriends still undefeated in recruiting. 
😂

Oregon recruiting, in both football and men's basketball, is in a serious downward spiral over the past few months.  Hopefully, they can reverse course here very soon. 

We lost Paul Mbiya to NC State?  
 

The recruiting trail is rough for Oregon right now. 

Bittle didn’t get invited to the combine, so he is probably back.