On June 30, Lake Forest Academy head basketball coach Matt Vaughn received a text from one of his former players.
The text, sent to Vaughn and two of his assistants, was from Dylan Ennis, a standout at LFA who graduated in 2011. Ennis was letting them know he had officially been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and would be suiting up for Oregon in the 2016-2017 season.
Vaughn, who coached Ennis his junior and senior years of high school, said he was happy for him, but reminded him he had one last goal to accomplish.
“Got to cut down the nets,” Vaughn said, alluding to the tradition of teams cutting the nets off the baskets after winning the national championship game. “That’s what I keep telling him. That’s your goal; that’s why you wanted to stay.”
A little more than three months removed from watching his former team, Villanova, win a national championship, Ennis was now set to return to an Oregon team that was reloading for a national title run of its own. In his sixth and final collegiate season, he will have a legitimate shot to help lead Oregon to its first national title since 1939.
Oregon Ducks guard Dylan Ennis (31) shows off his PAC-12 Championship ring. The Oregon Ducks Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams host a preseason block party on Saturday Oct.15, at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)
He’s come a long way to get there. Ennis spent the first two years of his prep career at Wings Academy in Brooklyn, New York before transferring to LFA. He was a much different player back then.
According to his brother, Tyler Ennis, who is currently playing for the Houston Rockets, Dylan was around 5-foot-2 heading into his sophomore year. Despite his size, he still commanded respect and was considered a leader on and off the court.
Tyler Ennis said his brother was the most charismatic of his four other siblings.
“Out of all of us he was the most talkative one,” Tyler Ennis said. “He was the one that you never questioned his passion in anything he did, and basketball was always his passion.”
Ennis’ growth spurt would come the following year. But standing a foot shorter than everyone else seemed to give him his drive and competitiveness that he still possesses today.
“He was one of the guys you always knew had a chip on his shoulder,” Tyler Ennis said. “You see that now when you watch him play, just how fiery he is; diving on the floor, diving across the scorers table, stuff like that. He took that — being shorter, being a smaller guy — to a whole new level by taking it into every aspect of life.”
When Ennis arrived at LFA in the Fall of 2009, Vaughn knew he had skill but said he didn’t stand out on the court. He had yet to develop athletically.
Two things he did noticed, though, were Ennis’s drive to improve and his swagger.
“I’d usually say confidence,” Vaughn said. “But he is a guy who has swagger.”
Oregon Ducks guard Dylan Ennis (31) is introduced to the crowd. The No. 5 Oregon Ducks open the season in an exhibition game against Northwest Christian University Beacons at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. on Nov. 7, 2016. (Kaylee Domzalski/Emerald)
Around the time he arrived at LFA, Ennis fell in love with the weight room. His offseason work during the summer of his junior year laid the foundation for the way he now plays the game. Vaughn said he more became more athletic, developed more range and lift on his jumpshot and became difficult to guard.
Ennis averaged 23 points, 7 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block his senior year. He was considered a top-30 guard in the nation by ESPN and he had his eye on several mid-major schools before choosing Rice in Houston, Texas.
Even though he had only spent two years at LFA, Ennis left a lasting impression.
“He was just a leader,” Vaughn said. “He had that charisma. … He made a big impression quickly and by the time he was gone, it was like, ‘Wow.’ It had felt like he had been here a lot longer than two years.”
Ennis only spent one season at Rice but averaged 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game and was named to Conference USA All-Freshman Team. The Owls went 19-16 that season.
Suddenly he began getting looks from some high-major schools and decided to transfer to Villanova. But due to NCAA transfer rules, Ennis had to sit out the 2012-13 season, in which the Wildcats went 20-14 and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I’d see him at home games going nuts and jumping up and down on the bench,” Vaughn said. “And I would think, ‘This has got to be killing him,’ because I know how much he loves to play and how much he likes to compete.”
In his two years at Villanova, Ennis was a key piece off the bench. He averaged 7.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 66 total games for the Wildcats and helped them make two separate runs in the NCAA Tournament.
But Villanova’s emergence as a national powerhouse made it a destination for top recruits. When five-star guard Jalen Brunson committed to Nova in September of 2014, Ennis sensed his playing time would suffer.
Once again, he looked to transfer. He found his next destination about 3,000 miles away — in Eugene, where head coach Dana Altman was building a new west coast powerhouse.
This time, Ennis played immediately. He spent his summer working out with the team and quickly established himself as one of Oregon’s best players in the fall. But Ennis injured his foot during fall and re-aggravated the injury later, causing him to miss the remainder of what he thought was his final collegiate season.
Oregon Ducks guard Dylan Ennis (31) watches his teammates warm up before the game. The Oregon Ducks face the California Golden Bears at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. on Jan. 6, 2016. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)
Ennis is not one to give up easily. He decided to petition the NCAA to allow him to play for one final season. After all, he had only logged 21 minutes that year.
On June 30, Ennis got the news he had been waiting months for: He was coming back.
He wasn’t the only one either.
Forward Chris Boucher had recently been cleared by the NCAA to return to Oregon, despite being declared a senior the year before due to the circumstances of his high school graduation. Forward Dillon Brooks and guard Tyler Dorsey were also coming back after withdrawing from the NBA Draft.
About a month ago, Oregon received its highest-ever preseason ranking in the coaches poll as the No. 5 team in the country.
At Oregon media day this year, Ennis said he was very excited to be back for one more run.
“I couldn’t play last year and I was just praying to come back and play with these guys another year,” Ennis said.
Nov. 7 marked Ennis’s return to the court. Even though it was only an exhibition game against Northwest Christian, Ennis showcased the versatility he brings to the team. He recorded 11 points, three rebounds and five assists.
In three games since, Ennis has averaged 9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. A little rust is expected after being away from the sport for over a year. Altman said he has “a ways to go” to being back where he needs to be.
“I think that’s still a work in progress,” Altman said. “Again, it’s all of us needing to make progress but Dylan has a ways to go.
“He just need to go back and play to his strengths.”
Oregon Ducks guard Dylan Ennis (31) and Army Black Knights forward Kennedy Edwards (10) wrestle for the ball. The No. 5 Oregon Ducks play the Army Black Knights at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. on Friday, Nov. 11, 2016. (Kaylee Domzalski/Emerald)
If Ennis does return to full form, he’ll help his team in a number of ways:
“He brings a lot of energy, and he’s a bigger guard so it helps us because he can get to the rim and he brings a different aspect on defense,” Boucher said after playing NCU. “He’s a little longer, a little bigger, so he can guard multiple positions. It really helps us.”
“He’s gonna be a key asset, like everybody on the team,” Dorsey said. “But he’s definitely been helping us this year and we needed that coming back.”
Both Tyler Ennis and Vaughn said they’re going to watch every Oregon game they can.
“He’s faced a lot of challenges in life,” Vaughn said. “I’m proud of him at the fact that he’s been able to face these different kinds of challenges, different places, different coaches.
“It’s not easy.”
Neither will winning a national championship, but Ennis is ready to give it one more shot.
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris
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