Head Coach Dana Altman has the Oregon Basketball recruiting at a whole new level, and now have landed the highest-rated player in program history.
Five-star center Bol Bol announced today via The Player’s Tribune that he committed to Altman and the Oregon Ducks.
With Kentucky and coach Jon Calipari being a perennial national power and an elite recruiting power, most in the college basketball community thought that they would be tough to beat for Bol’s signature.
However, Bol will now be heading to Eugene to play for Altman and the Ducks.
“About a week after I made my official visit to Eugene, I knew that that was where I wanted to go,” Bol said in his commitment article.
“Both Coach Altman and Coach Stubblefield broke down why my style is a bit different from just any other big man. I’m tall (obviously), but I’m not my dad. He was a true big man, a guy who played in the paint and blocked shots. But I like to work from the perimeter. I get a lot of satisfaction from passing to someone who’s more open than me,” he said.
I would like To thank everyone who recruited me. I had a tough decision to make. Today I would like to announce I have committed to Oregon https://t.co/kWOmpiKTt8 pic.twitter.com/cdyMrp5JQg
— Bol (@BolBol) November 20, 2017
Since his official visit, recruiting experts and insiders were cautiously optimistic about Oregon’s chances with Bol, but the looming threat of Kentucky always lingers with any recruit.
Oregon fans were especially cautious. In 2015, five-star shooting guard Jamal Murray was expected to follow the Canadian pipeline to Eugene and play for the Ducks. However, Kentucky entered the picture late and snagged Murray’s commitment, leaving Oregon fans stunned.
The worries of Duck fans increased exponentially when Bol took his official visit to Lexington for Kentucky’s famed “Big Blue Madness” pre-season showcase.
This time, it was the Ducks who pulled off the upset, securing Bol’s signature.
“I made my final decision to go to Oregon pretty recently. It was during a long car ride. I had made my official visit to Kentucky a few days before that. So I had a lot to think about. I was super stressed. Kentucky had been my dream school,” he said.
“I thought a lot about my dad and what he might tell me right now. And when I broke it all down like that, I just knew. So I’ll see you in Eugene.”
Next: Payton Pritchard Leads Ducks Past Ball State
Bol, the fourth-rated player in the class of 2018, joins an already stacked class featuring five-star forward Louis King, four-star forward Miles Norris, and four-star guard Will Richardson. Bol’s commitment gives Oregon the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation.