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NJDuck

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Posts posted by NJDuck

     

    Jaxson Jones is blowing up on the recruiting trail, but he’s locked in with the Ducks.

     

    A former Washington commit who quickly flipped to Oregon after a visit to Eugene, Jones told Ducks Digest’s Max Torres that he’s firmly committed to Oregon as part of the 2024 class. He plans to sign during the Early Signing Period in December and enroll early.

     

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    westicon.png Fast-rising Oregon edge rusher commit re-affirms pledge to Ducks

    SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM
    One of Oregon's 2024 commits re-affirmed his pledge to the Ducks on Saturday.

     

    • Whew! 1

     

    The Oregon Ducks are staying active on the recruiting trail, and they got good news this past week, landing among the top schools for one of the top safeties in the northeast.

     

    4-star Jaylen McClain, the No. 21 safety and No. 242 overall player in the 2024 class recently cut his recruiting list down to 10 schools, with the Ducks listed among teams like Georgia, Michigan, USC, Penn State, and several others.

     

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    6554b6be8c0d829a8bf63ae0c82cf121_link.pn Oregon Recruiting: 4-star Jaylen McClain puts Oregon among top schools

    DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM
    4-star safety Jaylen McClain lists Ducks among top schools

     

    Posted

     

    Losers of three straight, the Ducks (14-9, 5-7) can't take many more losses. With six Pac-12 games remaining, Graves believes the team would need to win three or four of them to ensure an at-large berth in next month's NCAA Tournament. 

     

    Graves conveyed that standing to the team prior to practices this week. The Ducks have dug themselves a hole, but can still dig themselves out, he believes. 

     

    "I think it's important to know that we're still in a position to get there. We've got to win some games, and to do that we've got to play with more of a sense of urgency. I think it's still something that is attainable," Graves said of reaching the tournament field. 

     

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    favicon.ico Kelly Graves: 'The level of urgency right now is 10 out of 10'

    247SPORTS.COM
    Kelly Graves: 'The level of urgency right now is 10 out of 10'

     

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    The Washington State Legislature is knee-deep in a 105-day legislative session. Lawmakers are currently on day No. 32, discussing matters such as agriculture, technology, business, education and other topics. 

     

    They will not talk Pac-12 Conference football, I’ve learned.  Plus, more on George Kliavkoff's visit to SMU.

     

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    apple-touch-icon-1024x1024.png Canzano: Bill to marry Washington and WSU makes a U-turn

    WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM
    Plus, more on George Kliavkoff's visit to SMU.

     

    Posted

     

     

    "What would Knight have done at the deadline if he owned the Blazers?

     

    Hold up.

     

    Wrong question.

     

    What wouldn’t Knight have done?

     

    LeBron was growing antsy in Los Angeles. Durant was on the trading block. Who else? What else? Anyone think the entrepreneur who built the largest global sports brand in history would have been content to sit still — whispering — while the league roared around him?"

     

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    apple-touch-icon-1024x1024.png Canzano: Best Trail Blazers trade involves Phil Knight

    WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM
    My wish for the NBA Trade deadline.

     

    • Thumbs Up 1

    Posted

     

    "You can feel the buzz starting to grow where moviegoers and sports lovers overlap. When you take a subject that contains arguably the greatest basketball player to ever live — Michael Jordan — and the most famous sports apparel brand in the history of the world — Nike — you’ve got sports fans excited. Then you put actors like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, and Viola Davis on the big screen to depict that subject matter?

     

    Now you’ve got a movie."

     

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    6554b6be8c0d829a8bf63ae0c82cf121_link.pn WATCH: Trailer drops for ‘AIR’ movie about Phil Knight, Michael Jordan

    DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM
    The first trailer for ‘AIR,’ a movie about Phil Knight and Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan has officially dropped.

     

    • Thumbs Up 1

    On 2/8/2023 at 10:45 PM, Mike West said:

    Apparently, Research draws hundreds of millions of dollars to the degree the sports aspect is overlooked.

     

    If that is the case, it explains why the conference hasn't been as concerned about it's football or basketball reputation.  Research income dwarfs athletic income.

    They should look at UNLV.  Las Vegas is growing. turning into a sports mega city.  Also, "UNLV achieves its goal of Tier 1 research university status several years ahead of schedule."

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    favicon.ico UNLV achieves its goal of Tier 1 research university status several years ahead of schedule – The Nevada Independent

    THENEVADAINDEPENDENT.COM
    UNLV had been explicit since at least 2013 about its goal of getting on the list, which includes the top 2.5 percent of higher education institutions. In 2010, it was designated as Tier 2, or an institution...

     

     

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    favicon.ico UNLV achieves its goal of Tier 1 research university status several years ahead of schedule – The Nevada Independent

    THENEVADAINDEPENDENT.COM
    UNLV had been explicit since at least 2013 about its goal of getting on the list, which includes the top 2.5 percent of higher education institutions. In 2010, it was designated as Tier 2, or an institution...

     

     

     

    • Thumbs Up 1

    On 2/8/2023 at 3:06 PM, Charles Fischer said:

    When writers cite this stuff--it is the media metric being used, but it is WRONG.  That same metric shows a very low media market in Oregon, yet the Ducks are No. 7 in the world for global fans.  The metric used for SMU is the Dallas market, when there are NOT 3 million people watching Mustang football, otherwise the 32K stadium would be a lot larger.

     

    This use of media market size is deceptive and inaccurate to me on both sides of the spectrum as I've demonstrated.

    That is what I like about Tony Altimore's information.  Showing where the Ducks are sitting with our national fanbase.  Our brand is growing each year, like Charles pointed out, not just nationally, but world wide.  Go Ducks!

    Posted

     

    Oregon entered the 2023 cycle hoping to shore up its cornerback room. The final result was an undoubted success as the school's signing list includes the top two cornerbacks on the west coast in four-stars Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena (Cali.) and Daylen Austin of Long Beach (Cali.).

     

    Both players hail from Southern California, drawing some similarities to the Ducks' 2017 signing haul when they also went in to the Los Angeles area to pull the area's two top corners in Deommodore Lenoir and Thomas Graham. Lenoir and Graham went on to become multiple year starters next to each other and to enjoy NFL careers.

     

    Greg Biggins, a 247Sports national recruiting analyst, sees the similarities between the cornerback pairings, and believes the Austin and Pleasant combo could achieve something similar during their times at Oregon with both possessing NFL upside.

     
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    favicon.ico Greg Biggins thinks Ducks may have something special with Daylen Austin and Rodrick Pleasant

    247SPORTS.COM
    Greg Biggins thinks Ducks may have something special with Daylen Austin and Rodrick Pleasant

     

    • Applause 1
    • Thumbs Up 1

    Posted

     

     

    SDSU and SMU under the spotlight.

    When USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 Conference last summer, they took a whopping 6.7 million Southern California television households with them.

     

    George Kliavkoff appears motivated to replace that divot. The Pac-12 has been in communication with San Diego State. Kliavkoff, the conference commissioner, is reportedly headed to Dallas to talk with SMU on Wednesday.

     

    What you need to know:

     

    • The Pac-12 is on a mission to replace the football inventory lost by the UCLA/USC defection to the Big Ten. That’s 23 combined football games and a pile of men’s basketball games.

     

    • Adding San Diego State would get the Pac-12 back into Southern California and regain 1.13 million television households. 

     

    • Kliavkoff met in December with officials at San Diego State, a conference source told me. A 45-minute meeting between the sides took place in the time around Oregon’s Dec. 28 appearance in the Holiday Bowl, I’m told.

     

    • Adding SMU would bring the DFW market with it. That’s 2.96 million TV homes. 

     

    • SMU + San Diego State = 4.1 million combined TV households. That will be attractive to media partners. But after the dust settles, the Pac-12 would still have ~2.6 million fewer television homes than it did before the departures of USC/UCLA.

     

     

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    apple-touch-icon-1024x1024.png Canzano: Pac-12 expansion ramps up

    WWW.JOHNCANZANO.COM
    SDSU and SMU under the spotlight.

     

    Canzano's listing of Oregon and Portland's market is a portion size of what Oregon's brand brings overall.  Oregon comes in at number 7 overall drawing fanbase viewing.  This is a great study by Tony Altimore analyzing the 130 FBS fan bases.  Interesting total fanbase estimates for each conference, Pac 12 sits at 23.5 million while the Big12 is 11.6 million  Good Read:

     

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    6554b6be8c0d829a8bf63ae0c82cf121_link.pn Where are the Oregon Ducks in study of largest college football fan bases? | Ducks Wire

    DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM
    The Ducks have one of the biggest fan bases in the nation. But where do they stack up among the most beloved teams in college football?

     

     

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    "News came out on Monday morning that the Oregon Ducks were losing offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, who was heading to the NFL and accepting a job with the New

     

    England Patriots. It is undoubtedly a great move for Klemm, and the right step in his career, but it also leaves Dan Lanning and the Ducks in a tough spot when it comes to filling out that spot on the coaching staff in an expedient fashion that has the team ready to roll when spring football comes around in a month.

     

    Fortunately for Oregon, this coaching move comes after the recruiting cycle has closed, and well before the next transfer portal window opens. Once the Ducks do make a hire, they will have 15 practices to get everyone on the same page in the offensive trenches and head into the season hoping to boast one of the top lines in the nation once again."

     

    Of course this is the beginning of buzz surrounding list of candidates.  I am sure more to come.

     

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    6554b6be8c0d829a8bf63ae0c82cf121_link.pn Oregon Football: Potential coaches to replace OL coach Adrian Klemm

    DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM
    Where do the Ducks turn to replace Adrian Klemm? We’ve got a list of 10 candidates with notable Oregon connections that might make sense.

     

    Posted

    Familiar name us Duck fans know:

     

    "We’ve said the ’25 QB class in California is a strong one and another signal caller we’re high on early is Vista Murrieta’s (Calif.) Akili Smith Jr.

     

    If that name sounds familiar, it should. Smith’s father Akili Smith was a JUCO all-American out of San Diego (Calif.) Grossmont back in 1996 before playing two years for Oregon and earning All-American honors for the Ducks in ’98.

     

    Smith was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the ’99 Draft with the 3rd overall pick. He’s now coaching quarterbacks and his son has made huge strides in the last year.

     

    We’ve been watching Smith Jr. since middle school and like where his game is trending. He’s a big quarterback and looks all of 6-5, 200 pounds and has a huge arm.

     

    He has worked hard to tighten his release and looks a lot more fluid as a passer. He’s still growing in to his body but can already make a lot of college level throws and it’s exciting to see where his game could be at by the time he’s a senior year.

     

    On the recruiting front, Smith saw his stock soar in January with new offers coming in from Michigan, Miami, Oregon and San Diego State. He already previous offers from Arizona, Cal and Fresno State.

     

    The offer from the Ducks obviously meant a lot to him."

     

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    favicon.ico '25 QB Akili Smith Jr. has seen his stock soar this off-season

    247SPORTS.COM
    We’ve said the ’25 QB class in California is a strong one and another signal caller we’re high on early is Vista Murrieta’s (Calif.) Akili Smith

     

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    favicon.ico Greg Biggins breaks down what could make 2025 QB prospect Akili Smith Jr. special

    247SPORTS.COM
    Greg Biggins breaks down what could make 2025 QB prospect Akili Smith Jr. special

     

    • Go Ducks! 1
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    "Laguna Beach (Calif.) junior tight end Ryner Swanson visited Oregon two weeks ago and the Ducks made a huge impression.

     

    Swanson is among the region’s top tight end prospects. At 6-4, 230 pounds, he has an ideal tight end frame with plenty of room to fill out.

     

    He's a fluid athlete and a natural pass catcher and has been very productive the last two seasons. As a sophomore, he caught 45 balls for 586 yards and eight touchdowns and nearly doubled those numbers this past season."

     

     

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    favicon.ico Oregon makes big impression on talented '24 TE Ryner Swanson

    247SPORTS.COM
    Laguna Beach (Calif.) junior tight end Ryner Swanson visited Oregon two weeks ago and the Ducks made a huge impression.

     

     

    Will Stein and the Oregon staff are working to add another promising arm to the Ducks roster in 2024

     

    "Oregon is one of the latest offers for the Arizona quarterback. The Oregon Ducks are hard at work looking for their quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class. One player that was recently in Eugene was Phoenix (Ariz.) Sunnyslope quarterback."

     

    "Luke Moga, who earned an offer from Will Stein and company shortly after that trip. He spoke with Ducks Digest to provide the latest in his recruitment as he's earned 14 scholarship offers since the start of the new year."

     

     

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    https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/college/article272189253.html#storylink=rss