When the seniors were lined up in front of cheering fans on senior night this past season, only one player could say he had been a Duck for his entire career. For the last four years, the Oregon basketball team has only managed to keep one original recruit in E.J. Singler, who was initially recruited by former head coach Ernie Kent.
The Ducks have had their struggles recruiting locally — losing players like Kevin Love to UCLA — as well as building recruiting classes and it has been detrimental. Before making the tournament this past season, the only post-season play the Ducks saw came courtesy of the National Invitation Tournament.
The postseason success they saw was largely due to Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson. Aside from a midseason injury that sidelined Artis,the duo pushed the Ducks to a new level, climaxing with a Sweet 16 appearance against the eventual NCAA champion Louisville Cardinals. The two were highly regarded in their first collegiate season and they still have three more years to mature and improve.
The Ducks, in an effort to continue their success, have signed five new recruits along with three transfers and have both Tyrell and Tyree Robinson, twins recruited to the football program, agreeing to play on the hard court. With the 78th overall ranked high school prospect in Jordan Bell headlining the Duck’s 2013 recruiting class, it may be sign that they are heading in a new, but right direction in terms of keeping players longterm.
After landing two big transfers in Joseph Young (Houston) and Mike Moser (UNLV), the Ducks may have already found their replacement for Arsalan Kazemi. Though the two will unlikely produce the type of onslaught on the boards that Kazemi provided, the two transfers will definitely make an immediate impact on both ends of the floor.
For Young it will be about producing a third scoring option for the Ducks as he comes off a senior season leading his team in points and ranking second in the Conference USA in scoring with 18 points per game. Line Young up with Dotson and the Ducks may have a trio of scorers that only compares to Aaron Brooks, Tajuan Porter and Malik Hairston. The only issue that Young will have to figure out is his eligibility, which is something can be resolved sooner rather than later.
Despite coming off a dismal junior year due to hip and elbow injuries, the Ducks are confident that Moser can produce at a high level considering he averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds his sophomore year at UNLV. After turning down last season’s No. 1 ranked team in Gonzaga and nearby rival Washington, Moser will be looking to re-up his NBA draft stock after earning pre-season all-American mentions his sophomore year.
Pair these two veterans up with the incoming freshman class and the Ducks will have time to develop and build chemistry in the coming years. Continual development is key for a program’s success and the Ducks just might be on the verge of achieving it.