Oregon Basketball: Jacob Young makes Ducks serious national title contenders

De’Vion Harmon. Rivaldo Soares. Quincy Guerrier. Jacob Young. All four of those guys have one thing in common: they joined the Oregon basketball program this offseason with the goal of winning a national title.

Harmon kicked things off this offseason, transferring in from Oklahoma shortly after testing the NBA draft waters. It was assumed he would pull his name out of the draft and come back after he announced that he would play college basketball at Oregon if he returned. He’s going to be a really good guard for the Ducks and help replace Chris Duarte, Amauri Hardy, and Jalen Terry.

Soares, a JUCO All-American, was next and he kind of had the same play style as Duarte. Plus, both were junior college transfers so if he’s even a fraction of Duarte, Soares is going to be a fan favorite in Eugene. He’ll add to that backcourt and even play a little wing.

Weeks later, it was Guerrier who transferred in from Syracuse after a strong two-year career with the Orange. The forward was once a top Oregon target out of high school before committing to Syracuse and when he announced he’d be entering the portal on May 1, Dana Altman jumped on the opportunity to snag him. He’s going to be the ideal starter on the wing.

On Wednesday, Young decided to potentially round out Oregon’s 2021 recruiting/transfer class, joining his older brother’s former program after a breakout senior season with Rutgers. Young actually helped Rutgers make it to the NCAA Tournament (not a typo) during his best season, averaging 14.1 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 steals.

Young also shot 37 percent from deep and should bolster that backcourt depth, making the Ducks not only Pac-12 title favorites but serious national championship contenders as well.

Young gives Oregon basketball an elite backcourt

Losing Duarte, Terry, and Hardy this offseason hurt. It looked like it would be Will Richardson and then everyone else but Altman wasn’t ready to settle.

He added Harmon who should be an All-American type of talent at the point guard spot and could split ball-handling duties with Richardson. Then he added Soares who could be a Duarte-type who can play anywhere from the one to the three. And finally Young rounds out the backcourt as a do-it-all point guard who screams “toughness”.

Try finding a better two-deep backcourt in college basketball than Harmon, Richardson, Soares, and Young. You probably can’t