For the first time in four years, Johnathan Loyd won’t be lacing up for the Oregon men’s basketball team.
As the newly reconstructed Ducks head into the season, Loyd, currently a member of the Oregon football team, took a moment to shed some insight on the upcoming season and what to expect from the new players.
Here’s his one-on-one with Emerald Associate Sports Editor Hayden Kim:
First of all, has it hit you yet that this will be the first year you don’t suit up for basketball?
Yeah, I was watching Elgin’s (Cook) Snapchat and he dunked on somebody in practice. Just kind of hit me right there; I was like, dang, I wasn’t there to see that.
They’re picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 by the media. Do you feel like they’re underrated in any sense? 
Yeah, they’re underrated. Everything that’s happened, people are just counting them out, but they’ve got a good little core and one of the best scorers in the country in Joe (Joseph Young), so anything can happen really. Just like I was my freshman year when we had everybody leave and all that, so it’s good. Coach Altman should figure it out.
Even though your playing days are over, you’re still close with the team. Out of the new guys, does anyone stick out or do they bring something to the table? 
They can definitely do some things, but they have to buy into the system. If they don’t buy into the system, then egos get into the way and they try to say “I’ll just do it my way” and be selfish. Then they’ll have a long, long season.
You had a successful senior campaign. Now, with Joseph Young heading into his, how important do you believe this upcoming year is going to be for him? 
It’s a big year. Going to show people he can play point guard because that was his big knock: That he’s an undersized shooting guard, but he’s going to show people he can play point guard and put the ball in the hole still. If he does that, I see him going high in the first round.
Has he shown that he has the point guard skills in practice? 
There’s bits and pieces. Last year, he didn’t have to be that point guard. I was the point guard so he was just scoring the ball. But now, he’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot more, he’s going to set people up and score the ball. I saw last year that he’ll make the right basketball plays, so that’s all a point guard is: making the right play.
With so many new players, is there a natural concern for how long it’s going to take to build team chemistry and build that quote-unquote bond? 
I mean, I went through it every year. Every year I had five, six, seven new teammates, so my message to them, as a leader, was just buy into the system. It starts on defense. If they start locking up and really take pride in their defense, they’re going to score points.
Will you be going to be at all the games this year? 
Every single one, yeah. I’m in the Pit Crew. I’m live.
Follow Hayden Kim on Twitter @HayDayKim