Pete Thamel of ESPN reports this morning that Duck sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad is returning to Oregon for his junior year of college basketball. The 6-0 sophomore from West Linn High School passed up a chance at the NBA draft or a lucrative NIL deal in the portal.
Shelstad averaged 13.7 points per game, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 2024-25, leading the Ducks to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. He hit 37.9 percent from three while winning a couple of games for the Webfoots with clutch shots at the buzzer.
In the NCAA tournament he had 17 points against Liberty in an 81-52 first-round win, 7-11 from the floor and 3-4 from three. In the second-round loss to Arizona he led Duck surges early and late by pouring in 25 points, 6-13, 3-6 beyond the arc
After the loss to the Wildcats in the Round of 32, Dana Altman said,
" I want our guys to be happy. I hope they can be happy at the University of Oregon. You can’t be your best in any relationship unless you’re happy, you know, you want to be in that relationship. I hope and pray that the guys want to stay, because I, like I said, I want ‘em to stay. Everybody that can come back, I want ‘em to come back. "Dana Altman
Sources: Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad has signed his deal at Oregon, which makes his return for his junior season with the Ducks official. He averaged 13.7 points per game last year, which was second on the team. He’ll be on one of the top returners in the Big Ten next year. pic.twitter.com/sBwRqpe2Xb
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 6, 2025
Getting Shelstad back is a key piece for Altman, who's had 15 straight 20-win seasons in Eugene and won 390 games, reaching the Elite Eight in 2016 and the Final Four in 2017. Should Kwame Evans and Nate Bittle also return, his wait-and-see approach to the portal makes more sense.