— In its second practice of the spring season, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick discussed graduate-transfer Dakota Prukop’s progress.
“His attitude has been incredible. He is doing everything he can possibly do to get better. To play in his situation — in really anyone’s situation, when you haven’t played before — you have to do a lot of time off the field, and he’s doing that. When he’s not in class, he lives in our building.”
Lubick also addressed rumors that basketball’s Dwayne Benjamin might be suiting up for football.
“We’d be happy to have him. I heard there’s a rumor that he was thinking about coming out. If he comes out, we’d be jazzed.”
— Benjamin hinted at his return to football in a tweet Thursday. The 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward was an all-state wide receiver at his Louisiana high school.
When asked where he’d put a 6-foot-7 player on the football field, Lubick said, “We’d find a place.”
— An 88-54 loss to University of South Dakota brought the Oregon women’s basketball’s time to an end in the WNIT tournament Wednesday. The Ducks finished the season 24-11.
“The way we kind of reinvented ourselves in the postseason is really admirable for these kids,” Graves said. “They play with a lot of heart. I’m really proud of them.”
— Left-handed pitcher Cheridan Hawkins was named Louisville/Slugger NFCA pitcher of the week on Tuesday. The honor came after Hawkins powered the Ducks to a win over Stanford last weekend, totaling 14 strikeouts in Friday’s game.
— No. 4 softball is now preparing for No. 18 UCLA at home on Friday. Oregon and UCLA are generally closely-matched teams, with the two competing for the Pac-12 title over the past couple years. The Ducks are 26-4 and 6-0 in the Pac-12 entering the series.
— Heading to the Stanford Invitational, Oregon is preparing to defend its NCAA Outdoor Track and Field title. The men hold three consecutive titles while the women are in search of a back-to-back title sweep. Back in mid-March, both the men’s and women’s teams won the Indoor Championship.
— After a rocky three matches, women’s tennis is preparing to take on No. 1 Cal and No. 18 Stanford this weekend. Earlier in the season, doubles partners Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita said one of their goals for conference play is to beat Stanford.
— Men’s tennis has struggled in conference play, dropping both of its Pac-12 matches. The Ducks fell first to No. 6 UCLA then to No.8 USC, dropping their record 13-4, 0-2 Pac-12. Oregon is preparing to take on the less-difficult Arizona and Utah this weekend.
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01