As Oregon fans, we love to see when the sports teams land huge commitments of four- or five-star prospects that either came out of high school or transferred here from another academic institution. So, here are three fundamental players that have exemplified their phenomenal skills set on the court:
1. The One-and-Only G Joseph Young
Of course, he would be regarded as Oregon’s top player due to all the amazing memories he brought to the basketball program at Oregon. Young transferred out of Houston University in Houston, Texas, due to personal reasons surrounding his father.
Once he officially became a Duck in 2013, Young started making an impact by increasing his scoring averages from 11.8 with the Cougars to 18.9 points per game as a Duck. He served as a true leader during his senior season with the Ducks and was the go-to guy when the team needed him most.
Jordan Bell has surely lived up to his reputation of being a prolific shot blocker ever since his days in high school.
2. The High-Flying F/C Jordan Bell
Bell was an interesting addition to the Oregon roster coming out of Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, Calif. He possesses such a fantastic vertical frame, which give him the ability to block shots almost anywhere on the court.
While he was ranked as a three-star prospect from Rivals.com, Bell didn’t make any splash as a highly sought after individual from big name schools that I mentioned earlier. The 6-foot-9 behemoth shattered the previous block record held at Oregon, 35, by finishing the 2014-2015 season with 86 blocks. Something like this being done by a freshman is rarely seen or even heard of for a matter of fact! Next season, we can expect Bell to have a monstrous year both offensively and defensively.
3. The All-Mighty F Dillon Brooks
Despite the fact that he was a four-star recruit according to ESPN.com, Brooks wasn’t considered a top recruit by many schools in the country. All of that slowly changed when the freshman started getting a lot of attention with his monstrous performance in the FIBA Americas U18 tournament playing for Canada.
In only five games, Brooks averaged roughly 25 points per game and hit nearly 62 percent from the field. His freshman season with the Ducks allowed fans to see his fabulous ability of handling the ball well when pressured by multiple defenders.
On top of this, he makes great decisions on the court, such as that electrifying dunk on Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky during the 2015 NCAA tournament. There’s no doubt that Brooks will be putting on a show next year in Matthew Knight Arena with monster jams that got Ducks fans excited last season.
Top Photo by Craig Strobeck
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Hey! My name is Austin Willhoft and I’m currently a freshman at the University of Oregon studying Journalism. I lived my whole life down in sunny and beautiful Laguna Beach, CA where I completed all of my prior education. I always have been into sports writing/reporting mostly due to the fact that I love watching, analyzing, and playing all kinds of sports. However, if I were to narrow it down between two sports, it would be basketball and football, both of which I played heavily in high school. I’m thrilled to be working for FishDuck.com and most importantly being a third generation to attend the UO. Sko Ducks!