11-28-22 Emerald Media - Duckseason Basketball

Duck Season

A BASKETBALL STAR IS LIVING HER CHILDHOOD DREAM

Taya Hanson, an award-winning collegiate women’s basketball player, transfers to Oregon for a new experience and community.

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Oregon Basketball is still searching for its identity after 66-56 loss to Houston

Duckseason, the Emerald’s quarterly sports magazine, is published by Emerald Media Group Inc., the Independent nonprofit news company at the University of Oregon. Formerly the Oregon Daily Emerald, the news organization was founded in 1900.

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Duck Season 2022 CONTENTS CONTENTS

Trying to make sense of Oregon Basketball’s early rankings

Assistant Chuck Martin brings skill development and experience to Eugene

Taya Hanson used her dream Canada Basketball experience to understand what it takes to play at the highest level

Oregon Women’s Basketball takes hit from early season injuries Pac-12 Womens Basketball is making history Houston Highlights

Tyrone Williams looks attentively as he listens to Coach Altman. The Oregon Ducks face the Montana State Bobcats on November 15th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Liam Sherry, Emerald)

OREGON BASKETBALL IS STILL SEARCHING FOR ITS IDENTITY AFTER 66-56 LOSS TO HOUSTON

After going 2-2 so far, it’s clear Oregon basketball doesn’t fully know who it is yet.

BY AARON HEISEN • TWITTER @AARON_HEISEN

ball was subsequently pushed up to guard Marcus Sasser for a three which extended Houston’s lead to nine points and felt like the nail in the coffin.

“They know who they are,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “They play within their system pretty well.”

It was timely sequences — like that block to transition three — that gave the Cougars the edge and showed why their system is so revered. Some of Oregon’s 16 turnovers were self-inflicted mistakes, but most were a product of the pressure the Cougars’ guards put on the perimeter, and the active hands their big-men play with when defending the post-entry pass.

When Kelvin Sampson speaks about his team, his tone is matter-of-fact.

He’s not arrogant, but he’s assured that the brand of basketball he coaches night-in and night-out is one that reflects the image of how he believes the game is supposed to be played.

“We play man-to-man every day,” Sampson said emphatically, after the Cougars 83-36 win over Northern Colorado. “If playing defense was easy, then everybody would be good defensively. It’s not easy winning the way we win.”

It’s an identity that the Houston Cougars head coach of eight years has instilled in each iteration of the roster since inheriting the position in 2014. It helped to turn a program that was 13-19 the year before he took over, into one that’s won no less than 20 games in his eight years at the helm.

It’s a game plan predicated on putting opponents’ ballhandlers in jail, forcing turnovers at the point of attack, and capitalizing in the form of fast-breaks. And it did its job on Sunday night as the Oregon Ducks fell short of the Cougars 66-56.

Oregon (2-2) did its best to mimic the Cougars by employing their own brand of defensive intensity. The problem for the Ducks, however: that’s not who they are. At least, not yet. After going .500 through their first two games, it’s clear the Ducks are still searching for their identity. Unfortunately for them, they came up against a program who’s not.

Still, the score sat at 60-54 with two minutes and change remaining. Oregon had stuck with Houston, but it needed to knock down a few more shots to complete the upset. Instead, the Cougars put their foot down in a way they’ve grown accustomed to.

With 90 seconds to go, Cougars’ forward Jarace Walker blocked Will Richardson’s putback layup attempt, and the

That defensive challenge that Sasser and fellow guard Jamal Shead presented throughout the night wore down Oregon’s ball handlers. Matters were only made worse when Ducks’ guard Keeshawn Barthelemy popped up favoring his left ankle after a made layup late in the first half. Barthelemy joined Oregon’s list of injury absences at guard, as Jermaine Couisnard and Brennan Rigsby won’t return anytime soon.

“We just don’t have any guards,” Altman said.

That issue was certainly present with seven minutes remaining when the Ducks had dug themselves a hole that seemed insurmountable at the time.

They trailed by 58-42 — the greatest margin of the night — and seemed like their guard play had finally succumbed to Houston’s perimeter pressure. Fatigue plagued the ballhandling and the passing that Richardson displayed as he tried to navigate the zone.

Sasser began to pick up on Richardson’s lackadaisical tendencies, and he baited him into a pass to Kel’el Ware on the short roll. Sasser poked the ball and took it the other way for an emphatic dunk.

“We showed an inability to handle the ball,” Altman said.

Richardson ended the night with a season-high seven turnovers.

In the end, it wasn’t enough. The Ducks came up short, but this wasn’t the same team that bottled up against UC Irvine last Friday. But what clearly separates them from Houston, what was present in the final 10 point deficit, goes back to what Sampson said after the Cougars win against Northern Colorado.

The next step for the Ducks, this season, is finding their identity. Yes, they’re 2-2, and yes, they’re hurting at the guard spot, but the season is young. Aand even with a healthy dose of guard play, it’s clear this team’s strength is its bigs. It seemed like Altman finally began to accept that on Sunday. Now he’ll have to empower them.

Quincy Guerrier looks up at the scoreboard in disbelief about the team’s performance. The Oregon Ducks host the #3 Houston Cougars on November 20th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Jonathan Suni, Emerald)

DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIENCE TO EUGENE

Martin is the newest addition to the Men’s Basketball coaching staff.

BY JACK AARON • TWITTER @JACKMAARON

When former assistant coach Chris Crutchfield left the Oregon Ducks basketball program to become the head coach of the Omaha Mavericks, he left a void at the assistant coach position. It didn’t take long for Oregon to find his replacement, hiring Chuck Martin as the third assistant to round out Dana Altman’s 2022 coaching staff.

Martin has a unique background which has led him to have an experienced career along his eight stops in the NCAA Men’s Basketball coaching realm.

Originally born in Puerto Rico, Martin’s family settled in New York. He spent five seasons in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, Puerto Rico’s top basketball league, where he played for the Capitanes de Arecibo. Before that, he played at Champlain Junior College and Monmouth.

One would think Martin would’ve gone directly into coaching after his playing career. It would’ve been a natural transition, but it wasn’t that simple.

“I was a school teacher in New York City. I taught high school for seven years at a small Catholic school. At the time, we had a young man by the name of Ron Artest who now goes by Metta World Peace,” Martin told Spencer McClaughlin of Locked On Oregon Ducks. “I’m a school teacher at heart who fell in love with basketball and got a great opportunity 24 years ago at Manhattan.”

His first official position was as an assistant coach at Seton Hall. He had several stops between 1999-2008, most notably with the Memphis Tigers.

During his time in Memphis, Martin helped develop the youngest NBA MVP of all time – Derrick Rose. With John Calipari and Martin guiding the young superstar, Memphis made it to the NCAA Tournament championship game.

Discounting heroics from Mario Chalmers, Martin would’ve been a national champion.

It was the development of Rose and the Tigers’ young roster that landed Martin a head coaching gig at Marist University, where he stayed for five years.

From 2013-2017, Martin served in several roles including being a scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also joined the Indiana Hoosiers’ staff for a few years, assisting them in reaching the NCAA Tournament twice.

Martin would go on to spend a half-decade at South Carolina, under head coach Frank Martin. He was an integral part of a staff that molded former Gamecock Chris Silva into becoming an All-SEC first-team member and 2018 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Martin also aided in the development of Hassani Gravett, 2019 SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

“I’ve been super fortunate to have these great opportunities throughout my career no greater than this one at Oregon.” Martin said.

Along with adding expertise from the bench, Martin can also be an asset in recruitment. During his tenure as head coach at Marist, three of his recruits won MAAC All-Rookie honors. The highest-rated recruit he signed was Devin Carter, a four-star guard.

“I’m trying to take (Dana Altman’s) lead in everything he does in regards to how he runs the offense, recruiting, on the court, off the court,” Martin said. “I’m trying to learn as quickly as I can the culture he’s established at Oregon the last 12 years because I want to be able to contribute.”

The Ducks already got their first win of the season, dismantling Florida A&M 80-45.

Rivaldo Soares looks to receive a pass in transition. The Oregon Ducks face the Montana State Bobcats on November 15th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Liam Sherry, Emerald)

RUTH: TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF OREGON BASKETBALL’S EARLY RANKINGS

Despite poor endings to last season, both Oregon basketball programs are ranked to start the year. Why?

Let’s be honest for a minute. The endings of last year’s basketball seasons were disappointing for both the men’s and women’s teams as the two squids sputtered out during the Pac-12 tournaments.

Despite this, both teams start the 2022-23 season in the Top 25 rankings. If you’re anything like me, you may have been caught off guard. I looked into these rankings and tried to make sense of the optimism surrounding the programs ahead of this new season.

Let’s start with the men’s team. It was eliminated in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament, missed the March Madness tournament and didn’t perform well in the National Invitational Tournament. Yet, they started 2022 ranked as the No. 21 team in the country.

From what I can understand, this ranking came as a product of three things: new players, the big guys and being a national brand.

Five-star recruit Kel’el Ware was one of the highest ranked players in the 2022 class, and he joined the Ducks this year for his first collegiate season. They also landed a couple key transfers in Keeshawn Barthelemy and Tyrone Williams. Barthelemy, a guard, transferred from Colorado after defeating Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament a season ago. Williams led all of JUCO in pointsper-game last year with 27.7 points per game. Both add a tremendous amount of talent and depth to a team that lost key players like De’Vion Harmon and Jacob Young.

The addition of Ware adds to the Ducks’ height and big-man core. Ware, mixed with Nate Bittle and N’Faly Dante provide Oregon with a dynamic group of centers. In the season opener, it was these three

BY BRADY RUTH • TWITTER @BRADYRUTH10

who led the team to a 80-45 victory over Florida A&M. It appears the Ducks will always have one – if not two – of these big men on the court at all times. This trio should help Oregon dominate on the boards and add to the defense the Pac-12 always excels in.

This season’s Ducks team reminds me a bit of Notre Dame football. It seems like Notre Dame is ranked every year simply because they’re a national branded team with a large following. Oregon is the same way.

The Ducks were also ranked highly last year, started off ice cold and never recovered. We all remember that 81-49 loss last year, right?

Oregon was disappointing last year, and the end of the season was especially brutal. I’m thinking the Ducks are ranked partially because of how big of a brand it is and the deal they have with Nike.

They didn’t look great against Florida A&M in the first game of the season, and then they got exposed against unranked UC Irvine 69-56. This team has been abysmal from the 3-point line, and they’ve demonstrated that they aren’t a Top 25 team.

As for the women’s team, I actually buy more into this ranking. Yes, even without the beloved Sedona Prince, who’s out for the year. The team was good last year, but was upset in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament and the first round of the national tournament.

Star players Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers are back, and Oregon has added some talented freshmen to the squad.

Freshmen Kennedy Basham, Chance Gray, Jennah Isai and Grace VanSlooten all joined the Ducks for their first collegiate

seasons and Oregon landed new transfers Taya Hanson and Taylor Hosendove during the offseason.

Prince left the team, and Basham will miss some serious time with a knee injury. The team is down to just nine active players, and it could be a serious issue moving forward.

But, the Ducks looked great in their first two wins over Northwestern and Seattle University. I also think the addition of Oregon legend Sabrina Ionescu to the coaching staff will be a huge moral boost and resource for this thinly-stretched roster.

The women’s team will also head to Portland to play in the Phil Knight Invitational, and it will serve as a chance to gain some serious clarity about the true talent of this team.

Both basketball teams at the University of Oregon started the season ranked. One I believe to be legit, but the other I have my reserves about just how excited Ducks’ fans should be.

Quincy Guerrier (13) takes heavy contact in the paint as he goes for a layup. The Oregon Ducks face the Florida A&M Rattlers on November 7th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Jonathan Suni, Emerald)

BY LILY CRANE

Taya Hanson (0) celebrates a big shot made by a teammate from the bench. The Oregon Ducks host Carroll College for an exhibition match on October28th, 2022, at Matthew Night Arena. (Jonathan Suni, Emerald)

When Oregon women’s basketball’s fifth-year senior Taya Hanson got the call that she was selected to represent Canada at the FIBA Women’s World Cup, she was overwhelmed with emotion.

Playing for her country’s senior national team was something Hanson had dreamed of since she was 14. In September, she saw her dream come to fruition at the most prominent international tournament in the world for basketball, other than the Olympics.

The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup was held in Sydney, Australia, from Sept. 22 to Oct. 1. Hanson and Team Canada started training two and a half weeks prior to the start of the tournament, giving her over a month in that competitive environment.

The Canadian team, led by head coach Víctor Lapeña,

featured Kia Nurse, Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton who are all players in the Women’s National Basketball Association. Hanson used the tournament as an opportunity to learn from these players about what it takes to play professionally.

“I’ve looked up to these women for so long, and they’ve played on the Olympic teams several times,” Hanson said. “Just to be with them now and to learn from them, grind with them, compete, was a huge privilege and something that I’m very grateful for.”

Due to not having the type of experience many of her teammates had at the professional level, Hanson’s oncourt role was small. She averaged one rebound in 16 total minutes of play throughout the tournament.

“I knew my role,” she said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be very significant on the court, and I was accepting of that and okay with that because it meant that I was practicing and making the team better every day.”

Hanson said she felt her basketball IQ increased by getting to spend time and playing with some of the best players in the world. She spent much of her time observing how professional players act both on and off the court.

Hanson was only one of three collegiate athletes in the entire tournament. One of the other players was Phillipina Kyei, her Oregon and Team Canada teammate.

“We got to spend that time together on such an elite team,” Hanson said. “We definitely grew at the same time and got to encourage each other along the way.”

Entering the collegiate season as a transfer from Arizona State, playing with Kyei provided Hanson with an opportunity to bond with one of her new teammates. The two were able to become more comfortable in the pick and roll and develop what Hanson called a “special Canadian connection.”

Like Hanson, Kyei only played limited minutes throughout the tournament. She averaged 1.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 30 total minutes of playing time.

Hanson hopes to carry over the chemistry the two developed into the Oregon program.

“We’re excited to bring what we learned and the connections that we formed to this team,” Hanson said.

Hanson and Kyei ended up finishing fourth with Team Canada at the World Cup, after losing to Australia in the bronze medal game. The experience is what Hanson described as just the beginning.

“It’s the start of an amazing journey,” she said. “I’m thankful for Canada Basketball and the support they’ve shown me throughout my years of playing ball.”

She is finishing up her last year of college eligibility at Oregon. Hanson, Kyei and the Oregon program are continuing to develop a solid foundation in their nonconference games this winter before Pac-12 play starts in January. The first official Pac-12 home game is on Jan. 1, 2023 against USC at Matthew Knight Arena.

OREGON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL OREGON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

TAKES HIT FROM EARLY SEASON INJURIES

BY EMMA LOGAN

Only a couple weeks into the 2022-23 season, there are nine remaining players to carry the team.

The Oregon Ducks suffered a loss to their lineup when senior center Sedona Prince announced a season-ending injury. Only a couple weeks later, freshman Kennedy Basham, who had filled in for Prince at center, announced she would be out several weeks due to injury.

On the morning of the team’s exhibition game against Carroll College, Prince and head coach Kelly Graves announced the end of her season due to an elbow injury requiring season ending surgery. Prince had just been selected for the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team as well as being named to the Lisa Leslie Award preseason watch list.

Prince brought height and the ability to pass and score at a high level. These aspects of her play will be missed on the court and throughout the season for the Ducks.

After Prince was declared out for the season, it gave a new opportunity for Basham to step up. In the season opener she only played six minutes before leaving the game.

Coach Graves is hopeful she will be back in the lineup by the beginning of Pac-12 conference play. This would allow Oregon to have 10 options back in the lineup.

“We don’t need injuries right now. One injury when you only have 10 players is magnified,” Graves said.

Having a small team is not historically unusual for the Oregon program. In 2019, the Ducks played with nine. That team went on to be Pac-12 regular season champions, Pac-12 Tournament champions and ranked No. 2 by AP.

Now more than ever, it is important for younger players to step up and fill larger roles on their new team. This freshman class was ranked as the nation’s No. 2 class according to espnW, which includes Chance Gray, Grace VanSlooten, Jennah Isai and Basham. Gray, Isai and VanSlooten made their marks right off the bat.

After two games, VanSlooten was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week. She led the team in scoring against Northwestern and Seattle University.

In her collegiate debut, she put up 20 points, the most points by a freshman since

her teammate Te-Hina Paopao scored 22 in 2020. VanSlooten started the first games of the season and will continue to be an integral piece of the team’s success.

“She is definitely one of our go-tos so she is going to be in position to produce for us,” Graves said. “She has been our most consistent inside player; she’s good in transition and really athletic.”

Isai played two straight games off the bench and scored double digits in both, against Northwestern and Seattle University. She has taken on an impactful role in the early season games by contributing numbers when she gets on the court.

“I want to bring whatever I can: rebounds, steals, points, whatever they need me for,” Isai said.

Moving forward, the Ducks take on the preseason and Pac-12 play by continuing to prove themselves. Coach Graves believes, despite the holes left in their lineup due to injury, his team will be a threat to competitors.

“I think we’ve got more than enough talent. I like where we’re at,” Graves said. “I think people are going to maybe sleep on us a little bit which I think can be a good thing.”

Sedona Prince is emotional as the organization and fans show gratitude to her and her career here in Oregon. The Oregon Ducks host Carroll College for an exhibition match on October 28th, 2022, at Matthew Night Arena, (Jonathan Suni/Emerald)

Young players will continue to have the opportunity early on to step in and fill large roles on the court.

“I became a firm believer that the Hayward Magic does exist.”

PAC-12 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IS MAKING HISTORY

BY NINA-GRACE MONTES

When it comes to basketball, the Conference of Champions has always been at the top. With a Pac-12 team making the Final Four for the past 12 years, recruits are taking notice. This year, five Pac-12 teams landed in the top 10 when it came to recruiting — a phenomena that hasn’t happened in the last 15 years.

With Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice, the top two recruits in the country, and seven out of the top 10 choosing Pac-12 schools, the conference continues to prove that this is the next generation of basketball.

“There have been so many great players that have played in the Pac-12. What I’ve said over and over is we’ve always had great teams, great universities, great coaches,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “The difference has been people have seen our teams play…The support that we get from…just being on television, Pac-12 Networks has put Pac-12 women’s basketball on the map. We were always good but now people know about it.”

UCLA is leading the way after head coach Cori Close signed four top-50 recruits including Rice. This is not her first time creating top recruiting classes as she had the top class in the nation in 2014. A group that consisted of Jordin Canada and Monique Billings, WNBA All-Stars.

“They have a great balance of unshakable confidence and competitive spirit. I don’t think they’re afraid to step into whatever role is going to help our team win,” Close said at Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Media Day. “It has not been easy, it has not been a walk in the park for them, and at the

Recruiting is changing how Pac-12 basketball is played.

same time, they are making an impact.”

Despite a first-round upset last season, Oregon signed the No. 2 class in the country. The group consists of four top-100 recruits and two McDonald’s All-Americans Chance Grey and Grace VanSlooten.

Over 30 miles away in Corvallis, the Beavers were able to sign a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans as well: Timea Gardiner and Raegan Beers. The commitment from these two propelled Oregon State to have the third-best recruiting class in the nation. This is a pleasant sight for the Beavers as they’re looking to get back into the NCAA tournament after a WNIT appearance last spring.

All the way in Stanford, Calif., VanDerveer snatched the number one recruit in the country in 6-foot-7 post player Betts and a top-20 guard, 5-foot- 9 Indya Nivar. Having those two players in the incoming class led the Cardinals to having the fifth-best recruiting class.

It’s important to mention that Arizona has the No. 8 class in the country, but only fifth-best in the conference.

“I think it’s great. I think it obviously shows that the recruits are really smart because if I was in high school, I would want to play in the Pac-12,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said at Basketball Media Day. “Great coaching in this league, a conference that really cares about women’s basketball, and a rising tide lifts all ships, right? They want to play against the best, so that’s why they’re coming out here.”

Maddie Scherr contesting a Stanford jumpshot. The Oregon Ducks Women’s Basketball team faces the Stanford Cardinal, on February 20th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Liam Sherry/Emerald)

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Rivaldo Soares is dismayed with the call from the officials as he plays. The Oregon Ducks face the Montana State Bobcats on November 15th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Liam Sherry, Emerald)

Coach Altman takes up his complaints with the referee after a questionable call. The Oregon Ducks face the Montana State Bobcats on November 15th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Liam Sherry, Emerald)

Will Richardson gets the Bobcat defender to bite on his shot fake. The Oregon Ducks face the Montana State Bobcats on November 15th, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Liam Sherry, Emerald)