To say last season’s 14-13 record, ninth-place finish in the Pacific-10 Conference and not playing in the Pac-10 Tournament or postseason play was a disappointment is a huge understatement.
However, those motivating factors and the addition of two transfers have created a team ready to beat its opponents one by one beginning with an exhibition against Southern Oregon at McArthur Court tonight at 7 p.m.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent believes junior college transfer Ivan Johnson and Xavier transfer Churchill Odia will help the team on the court in the near future. He also said signing the two athletes showcases the level of the program.
“It was huge. Both of them are transfers – one from a junior college and one from a Division I school. I think that says a lot about who we are,” Kent said. “The fact that they contacted us, they looked at Oregon, they wanted to come here and everything, so it was huge for us.”
Johnson, a 6-foot-8 junior from Los Angeles Southwest College, will provide an inside threat, something the Ducks struggled with last season.
“His job is going to be to give us another inside presence that can really neutralize things in the paint for us,” Kent said. “He’s going to have to really learn some things in terms of what we do in our offense and defensive schemes.”
Meanwhile the 6-foot-6 Odia has to redshirt for the entire 2005-06 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but will have three years of eligibility beginning the following year.
“His role is to help us win games by being very, very productive and effective in practice because he is redshirting this year,” Kent said. “His games are going to be practice and he needs to really make sure he pushes this basketball team.”
That is exactly what Kent and Odia have done since practices began, focusing on defense.
“I think the key thing with us last year, being so young, I don’t think these guys quite understood how to get stops and stops at key times in games,” Kent said. “We’ve probably put three-fourths of what we do work on in practice is on the defensive end of the floor.”
Last season was a learning process throughout and Kent thinks the team grasped the major concepts of defense such as “awareness, learning principles of how to rotate, pressure on the ball,” but now it is time to apply them from the start.
“This year they understand it and now they have to put the intensity to it – playing hard and just being conscious of getting stops,” Kent said.
Team members are excited for their first game.
“We are definitely getting kind of tired of playing against each other in practice,” guard Bryce Taylor said. “Guys are getting kind of beat up and we are looking forward to taking that out on somebody else.”
New and old, most of the team feels that sentiment.
“We are tired of playing against ourselves,” Johnson said.
Teammate Aaron Brooks, a preseason All-America candidate, can’t wait to lace up his shoes for the first test.
“Just a chance to get out and play against some other competition, instead of beating up on ourselves,” Brooks said. “It looks good in practice, we are going hard against each other, but you never know until you play another opponent.”
However, last season was a motivating factor, to some more than others.
“I forgot what happened last year,” said a smiling Malik Hairston, also a preseason All-America candidate.
Brooks has used it as motivation to erase the memories and create a positive future.
“It’s motivation to work hard,” Brooks said. “No one likes to lose, and that’s our key – not to lose like that again.”

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