Oregon basketball heads into another season with an absolutely stacked roster – but can Dana Altman figure out all the pieces to make it work?
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Oregon basketball.
Dana Altman – good luck! In all of my years of previewing teams, I’m not sure if I’ve had as tough of a time coming up with my projected starting five and bench as with this Oregon Ducks team.
It’s a combination of reasons – for one, there’s not much separation between who might start and who might come off the bench. Stats and skill for 1-9 are practically the same, with maybe the exception of Jackson Shelstad who has the makings of being a star in the Big Ten this season.
But everyone else could be interchangeable. In fact players projected 1-9 all averaged at least 7.5 PPG last season and they did that either at Oregon, a different power conference school, or in Ra’Heim Moss’s case, at Toledo, where he dropped 15.5 PPG on a very good basketball team.
In other words, Oregon’s roster is deep, and the problem shouldn’t be talent, but might come down to how many minutes will be up for grabs and who might have a lesser role than they’d like.
In my projected rotation, I admittedly looked elsewhere and also took playing experience AT Oregon into consideration. It’s important to value already knowing a system, and Altman has enough returning guys to rely on for some stability.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Dana Altman (15th season at Oregon, 36th season overall)
2023-24 record: 24-12 (12-8)
2024 postseason finish: Lost to Creighton (86-73) in second round of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Jermaine Couisnard (16.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.6 SPG, 34.6 3P%)
- N’Faly Dante (17.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.9 BPG, 1.7 SPG, 69.5 FG%)
- Kario Oquendo (7.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.0 APG)
- Brennan Rigsby (6.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.1 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Oregon State (Nov. 21)
- vs. Texas A&M (Nov. 26)
- vs. San Diego State (Nov. 27)
- vs. Creighton (Nov. 30)
- vs. Stanford (Dec. 21)
Projected Rotation
PG: Jackson Shelstad (6-0, So.)
2023-24 stats: 12.8 PPG, 2.8 APG, 2.8 RPG, 34.5 3P%
SG: TJ Bamba (6-5, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 10.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 36.9 3P% (Villanova)
SF: Jadrian Tracey (6-5, Rs.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 7.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 35.9 3P%
PF: Kwame Evans Jr. (6-9, So.)
2023-24 stats: 7.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.9 APG, 1.1 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 34.1 3P%
C: Nate Bittle (7-0, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 10.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 0.8 APG, 1.0 BPG
6: Ra’Heim Moss (6-4, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 15.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.7 SPG (Toledo)
7: Supreme Cook (6-9, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 10.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 0.6 APG, 57.5 FG% (Georgetown)
8: Keeshawn Barthelemy (6-1, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 7.9 PPG, 2.3 APG, 2.2 RPG, 38.5 3P%
9: Brandon Angel (6-8, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 13.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 56.7 FG%, 44.7 3P% (Stanford)
10: Dezdrick Lindsay (6-6, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 16.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.9 APG, 41.5 3P% (Florida Southwestern State)
11: Jamari Phillips (6-3, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #48 ranked recruit
Oregon Basketball team MVP: Jackson Shelstad
If I had to guess which sophomore will have the best season in all of college basketball, I’d say Jackson Shelstad.
As a freshman, he showed composure, playmaking, and big-shot ability. Despite being just 6-foot-0 flat, Shelstad doesn’t shy away from scoring at the bucket, and it helps his overall game that at any moment, even from deep range, he’ll pull up.
Shelstad is one of those players who can put a team on his back and also elevate college basketball as a whole. There’s no denying how promising he was as a freshman, and Oregon basketball getting him back wasn’t just good for their brand, but all of college basketball.
Oregon Basketball make-or-break player: TJ Bamba
As I mentioned previously, there are so many quality players on this team, but Bamba has the chance to be special in his fifth and final year.
After spending a year at Villanova, he returns out west, where it all began at Washington State. Bamba turned into a star with the Cougars, putting up nearly 16 points per game as a junior. While his numbers receded at Villanova, the move back to the West Coast could prove to be big for him and his team. Shelstad needs a good running mate in the backcourt, and Bamba’s experience and aggressiveness, especially attacking the rim, make him the perfect partner in crime.
Guys like Moss and Barthelemy make this Oregon backcourt deep, but if Bamba can revisit his career year as a junior at Wazzu, it can elevate the Ducks all that much more.
Key analytic: TOVPG
One thing is for certain – Oregon will take care of the basketball. Last season, the Ducks only coughed it up an average of 10.2 times per game, which was inside the top 50 in the country.
It helped that Shelstad, a freshman, only committed 1.6 turnovers per game, so who knows how great he can be with one year under his belt.
The newcomers are all careful with the ball too. Bamba plays with a lot of poise, and it showed, only with 1.4 TOVPG in 2023-24.
Moss could be one player to worry about in that department, but he also was forced to handle it a lot at Toledo. Having a smaller role, could help out in that department.
Regardless, for a team that will score points and play with a lot of efficiency on the offensive end, Oregon won’t commit throw away turnovers. There is a method behind all of the madness for the Ducks.
Oregon Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 6th in the Big Ten
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Exit