Oregon Ducks news: N’Faly Dante extension denied, baseball vs. San Diego, more
By Sam Fariss
Earlier this offseason, star center N’Faly Dante and the Oregon Ducks applied for an eligibility extension due to his continuous struggle with injuries.
Because of his various stretches of missing game time, Dante has played about two seasons less than many veteran athletes in the NCAA, including UNC forward Armando Bacot.
The NCAA denied Dante’s application for another year of eligibility, meaning he would most likely enter the 2024 NBA Draft.
The Ducks and Dante are expected to appeal the NCAA’s decision in hopes that, the second time around, the Oregon star will be approved for another year in Eugene.
Dante averaged 17 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game throughout the 2023-24 season. He was one of the most productive players in the league, shooting 69.5 percent from the field.
The Duck baseball team is flocking to Santa Barbara for the regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
First on the Ducks’ docket is the No. 2 seed San Diego Toreros. Oregon has the three-seed in the regional and Fresno State has the No. 4 seed.
UC Santa Barbara, the regional host, is the No. 14 seed in the nation after finishing the regular season with a 42-12 overall record.
Oregon and San Diego are scheduled to play on May 31 at noon PT. Fans can tune in to see the Ducks in action on ESPNU.
More Oregon sports news:
Miami transfer shooting guard Wooga Poplar will visit Eugene and Dana Altman next week. The senior guard averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game last season.
Poplar shot 38.5 percent from beyond the arc for the Canes in 2023 and shot nearly 43 percent from the field.
Altman already recruited Villanova transfer TJ Bamba to join the Ducks this offseason as well as former Stanford star Brandon Angel and Toledo four-star transfer Ra’Heim Moss.
More college sports news:
Texas Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte has already been blowing smoke ahead of his program’s entrance into the SEC.
Del Conte was quoted as saying that more than 300,000 people attend the Texas State Fair in tandem with the Red River Rivalry game between the Horns and Oklahoma Sooners.
Many SEC fans, teams, and players immediately jumped into action, calling Del Conte’s wild inflation of the attendance numbers – which he missed by just about 100,000 people.
For a team that is supposed to be one of the top dogs in the SEC in 2024, Del Conte is giving his Longhorns quite the grand entrance.