There's no hiding the fact that the Oregon men's basketball team was disappointing this season, finishing 12-20 overall and entirely missing the NCAA Tournament.
Compared to the usual prowess of the Oregon Ducks in seemingly every sport, it was honestly a shocking finish for head coach Dana Altman and his team.
From football appearing in back-to-back College Football Playoffs to the baseball team maintaining a spot in the Top 25, the Ducks have just been good in every corner of the world of college athletics, other than men's basketball this season.
When Altman discussed what went wrong, he seemed to point his finger at the Oregon football program and head coach Dan Lanning, who receives seemingly endless amounts of NIL funding from Nike founder and Oregon alum Phil Knight.
"We have to work within [anNIL] budget," Altman said after explaining the eight departures that the Ducks have seen since the transfer portal opened.
Dana Altman blames NIL for transfer portal departures
From star point Jackson Shelstad to transfer Devon Pryor, the Ducks lost player after player to the portal in just the last few days, leaving Altman with minimal depth on his roster.
Even with all of the departures that Oregon suffered, Altman expressed that he wasn't surprised by any of them, seeming to understand the reason behind each athlete heading out the door.
Meanwhile, Lanning seems to be able to recruit and maintain any and every player he expresses interest in, landing top recruiting classes after top recruiting classes, all while offering top dollar to the elite prospects.
Dana Altman says no player had scholarshipspulled, but they are "Working within a budget [for NIL]."
— Matt Prehm (@MattPrehm) April 9, 2026
Altman said no departure is a surprise.
Every player was going to take a pay cut, some were going to see entire NIL money wiped out.
"We have to work within a budget."
While Altman has watched eight former Ducks leave the program, he has yet to land a recruit from the transfer portal, now forced to rebuild his program from head to toe.
Oregon Ducks in the transfer portal
- Jackson Shelstad, four-star point guard, committed to Louisville
- Jamari Phillips, four-star shooting guard
- Kwame Evans Jr., four-star power forward
- Devon Pryor, three-star small forward
- JJ Frakes, three-star shooting guard
- Ege Demir, center
- Dezdrick Lindsay, small forward
- Efe Vatan, power forward
Shelstad, an Oregon native, has already committed to the Louisville Cardinals out of the portal, but the other seven former Ducks have yet to announce official decisions about their futures.