When a casual college sports fan thinks of Oregon, football is the first thing that comes to mind.
Dana Altman is trying to change that.
The Ducks’ head basketball coach has done a solid job of turning a “football school” into a more well-rounded athletic school. He has put Oregon basketball on the map and it looks like the Ducks are trending in the right direction.
In fact, they currently have the most active NBA players in program history with seven former Ducks on rosters as the regular season came to a close.
Closed the regular season with the most active NBA #ProDucks in program history 🦆@1jordanbell @BolBol @chrisboucher @dillonbrooks24 @Troy_Brown33 @LouKing84975894 @paytonpritch3 #GoDucks x #AlwaysUs pic.twitter.com/uIOGus6upj
— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) May 17, 2021
With seven Ducks in the league, Oregon basketball can now use that as a recruiting tool. Come to Oregon where you can not only play for Pac-12 titles every year, but there’s a good chance you’ll have NBA scouts watching you. Teams take notice of programs that produce pros and Oregon is slowly becoming one of the top producers of NBA talent.
How’s former Oregon basketball stars fare in 2020-21?
Jordan Bell signed with Golden State at the end of the year as he was the last former Duck to make a roster and he’s going to be with the Warriors in their march through the playoffs. The Warriors have their first play-in game on May 19.
Bol Bol is still adjusting to the NBA with the Nuggets as he averaged just five minutes per game over 32 contests. He has the talent and the potential to be a quality NBA player but he needs to prove he can play every day. The Nuggets are the No. 3 seed in the West.
Chris Boucher is in his fourth NBA season (third with the Raptors) and it’s been his best one yet. He averaged a career-best 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. Unfortunately, the Raptors missed the playoffs with a 27-45 record.
Like Boucher, Dillon Brooks had his best NBA regular season yet, averaging 17.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 42 percent from the floor and 35 percent from deep. He’s been an important piece for the Grizzlies as they have gone from irrelevant to a play-in team in 2020-21.
Troy Brown took a bit of a step back this season after averaging 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds a season ago. He was dealt to the Bulls from the Wizards and averaged 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. The Bulls missed out on the play-in tournament by two games.
Louis King earned a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings and actually played well in six games this season, averaging 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. He shot 50 percent from the floor and 36 percent from deep. He may have just played his way onto a roster for 2021-22.
Lastly, there was Payton Pritchard who averaged 7.7 points and 1.8 assists for the seventh-seeded Celtics. He also shot over 40 percent from 3-point range. He’s going to be a really good role player for Boston for a while.
And don’t forget guys like Eugene Omoruyi and Chris Duarte who could make rosters next season after the NBA draft which could give the Ducks as many as nine active NBA players.
Hard to believe they aren’t even close to done adding guys to the league — just look at what some early 2021 NBA Mock Drafts looked like before this past season.
Oregon is slowly becoming an NBA factory.