It’s often said in sports, in one fashion or another, that winning cures all wounds.
No one knows this better than the four players in Oregon’s recruiting class of 2004, now juniors: Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen, Chamberlain Oguchi, and Bryce Taylor.
After two years of hype, struggles and underachievement – and subsequent doubts and criticism – the class of 2004 has finally tasted some success while vindicating much of what’s gone awry the past two seasons.
On Sunday, for the first time in their careers, they were rewarded with a postseason berth. From missing the postseason entirely in their first two seasons to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament in nearby Spokane, Wash., it’s been quite a ride for these four.
“It’s a great feeling,” Hairston said. “I don’t know, it’s just a sweet feeling. These guys, we’ve been through a lot. We worked hard, we’ve done a lot in the offseason. I think we deserve it.”
Of course, the expectations were great for this class from the start. Even too much, head coach Ernie Kent said, for a group that arrived in Eugene as Oregon’s highest-rated class ever.
“They were over-hyped,” Kent said, noting that Hairston was just 16 when he came in and declared he wanted to “Carmelo-ize” Oregon, meaning he’d take them to a championship his freshman year as Carmelo Anthony did at Syracuse in 2003. “You can’t tell McDonald’s All-Americans, ‘you’re going to finish eighth in the Pac-10.’ You can’t. People are going to attack me, ‘well, you’re over-hyping them.’ What are you going to do with young people? Tell them you can’t do something?”
Senior point guard Aaron Brooks, a McDonald’s All-American himself, knows about the pressures firsthand.
“I think the class of 2004, there was so many expectations put on them that they weren’t able to live up to them in the beginning,” Brooks said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, and it’s hard coming in from high school with such high expectations. I understand. When they first came in, it was all about me.
Everybody had their ‘me’ attitudes and now it’s starting to come together.”
And, in part, the success comes because the group refused to waver both from their coach, who sat on the hot seat much of last year, and from each other.
“I was talking to (Chamberlain) today about how far we’ve come and how hard it’s been to get to this point,” Taylor said. “Now that we’re here, it’s pretty exciting and validating. We’re kind of like brothers because of all the things we’ve been through.”
Oguchi and Taylor are roommates, as are Hairston and Leunen, and all four reside in the same apartment complex. Taylor said Oguchi is certainly the personality of the group, while he’s the oddball, Hairston the serious one and Leunen the quiet one.
“It’s kind of representative of a basketball team because you have so many different personalities, people coming from everywhere, but you get to know each other, get to love each other, for all the different quirks that everyone has,” Taylor said.
Said Hairston: “I love them. You see Maarty stepping up, Bryce stepping up, when Champ (Oguchi) gets going again, I think the class is very tough.”
But within the two years of struggles the Ducks experienced, there were individual struggles as well for each member of the class.
Taylor, before coming on strong this year and averaging 14.8 points per game, suffered a hyper-extended knee last year that sidelined him for the final 10 games and ended a largely disappointing sophomore campaign after the guard earned Pacific 10 Conference all-freshman honors a year earlier, averaging 11.5 points per game.
He averaged 9.3 points per game last season and shot just 27 percent from three-point range. This year, including his perfect shooting performance in the Pac-10 Tournament Championship game against USC, Taylor, also arguably Oregon’s top defender, was 42 percent from beyond the arc.
In Taylor’s absence last season, Oguchi – Taylor’s teammate, roommate and close friend – came on strong to end the season. He scored in double figures in nine of Oregon’s final 10 games, including a Pac-10 Tournament-record 14 three-pointers after essentially being a non-factor early in the season.
The roles again reversed, with Taylor a key component to Oregon’s success this season, and the Ducks waiting for Oguchi to catch fire and break his season slump. Oguchi is currently shooting 25 percent from beyond the arc.
“It’s surprising to see me and Champ as close as we are because last year he comes in and does really well when I go down, but it’s one of those things that’s bigger than basketball in terms of our relationship,” Taylor said.
Likewise, Hairston’s suffered multiple injuries and watched his production drop from 15 points per game to 11.1 this season.
Leunen, the Ducks’ top rebounder, is the only one of the four who’s seen his production in nearly every category rise since his freshman season, but even for him, there has been confidence issues along the way.
“We all came in winners, like state champions and never really losing a game and for us to lose 14, 16 games in one year was tough,” Leunen said. “But I wouldn’t trade anything. I’m happy we’re here.”
And the struggles of the past certainly made Selection Sunday that much sweeter for the Ducks.
“I feel so proud and so happy for them,” Kent said. “They never gave up on themselves and never gave up on us. They deserve everything they’re getting right now.”
Said Taylor: “I hope people see that we’re winners. We just want to be known, individually, and as a class, as one of the most talented classes to ever come through here.”
They’re certainly well on their way to achieving that.
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