With the NBA draft fast approaching, two of Oregon’s former basketball players await their future.
Freddie Jones and Chris Christoffersen — with a little help from some influential friends — led Oregon to a Pacific-10 Conference championship and an Elite Eight finish in the NCAA Tournament last season. Now that college life has passed and 21 days remain until the draft, the future of bigger arenas, more talented opponents and actual paychecks is within sight.
The most successful Oregon alum in recent years is the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Terrell Brandon. In his 11th season in the NBA, Brandon ranked No. 1 this year in assists per turnovers with 6.14, and he needs just six points to reach 10,000 in his career to go along with more than 4,400 assists. Brandon left Oregon after his junior year in 1991.
Jones, who wowed McArthur Court crowds with his high-flying dunks and shooting touch, has statistics that match Brandon’s numbers. Jones’ 650 points in the 2001-02 season ranks second on the Oregon single-season list behind Brandon’s 745. Jones broke Brandon’s record for free throws made in a season with 169 and tied Brandon with 63 steals in a season.
Christoffersen, who probably would have won the team’s most improved player award were it not given to the entire team at the Ducks’ annual awards ceremony, finished his career with 75 blocks, which ranks him third all-time at Oregon.
Prior to his senior season, the 7-foot- 2 Christoffersen attended Pete Newell Big Man’s Camp, and the off-season help showed as he compiled a .547 shooting percentage and 189 total rebounds. He was fourth on the team, with 286 points.
Jones is predicted by many analysts to be selected in the middle of the first round while Christoffersen should go in the second round, but Oregon head coach Ernie Kent knows that the draft can be unpredictable.

“I don’t think (Jones and Christoffersen) have a real good feel for what will happen in the draft,” Kent said. “No one knows. Anything can happen in the draft. I think a lot of it will depend upon how they do in their individual workouts with the teams they are interviewing with right now. They won’t know until draft day because the draft is so uncertain.”
Of the 11 other men Jones and Christoffersen played with on the 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament team, eight are playing professionally or plan to this summer.
Alex Scales, who averaged 16.3 points per game in the 1999-2000 season for Oregon, continues to amaze crowds with his leaping ability. He was co-winner of the slam dunk contest in this year’s Chinese Basketball Association all-star game.
Scales’ list of basketball employers is extensive. He was drafted by three teams — the Kansas City Knights of the American Basketball Association, the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball League, and the International Basketball League’s Trenton Shooting Stars, who traded his rights to the Las Vegas Silver Bandits. In 2000, he played 14 games for the Mabo Basket Livorno averaging just over 10 points per game. He has since played in the Liga Sudamericana Tournament in February and March of 2001, the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons Nanjing in China and the Central Entrerriano in Argentina. While with the Central Entrerriano, Scales had disputes with the team about his payment, but finally agreed to be paid in pesos instead of U.S. currency.
A.D. Smith ranked second on the 1999-2000 team in scoring behind Scales, and currently plays for the Perth Wildcats in Australia. The Eugene native has also played in Austria for the Klosterneuburg Dukes, Amicale Steinsel in Luxembourg and Gent United in Belgium.
Sacramento, Calif., native Darius Wright shared the team MVP award with Scales in 1998-1999 and played two years for Oregon. In March 2001, Wright was signed by San Diego WildFire of the ABA and played in three games averaging 11.7 points per game. In the 2001-02 season, Wright headed overseas to play for Worthersee Piraten in Austria.

In the 2001 NBA draft, Bryan Bracey, who led the 2000-01 Oregon team in points (18.6) and rebounds per game (7.1), was selected in the second round as the 58th pick overall. Also drafted in the supplementary draft of the National Basketball Development League by the Fayetteville Patriots, Bracey was signed by Bnei Hertzliya in Israel.
He left the country in April because of security questions from the military conflicts in the region, according towww.eurobasket.com.
Flo Hartenstein, a force on the inside when playing for Oregon from 1997 to 2001, signed a two-year contract with Avitos Giessen in his native country of Germany. He is the team’s starting center.
Other former Ducks Julius Hicks, David Jackson and Anthony Lever also expect to play overseas starting this summer, and their former coach is pleased that so many of his former players continue to pursue the sport.
“The fact that you’ve got players that are at a high caliber, that are playing professionally overseas — that’s a plus because it shows that players can come here and have success and continue their
careers,” Kent said.
Kent said that his biggest enjoyment is seeing his players walk away from the University with a degree.
“There are a couple that are very close that went overseas, and I will have a greater thrill of enjoyment when they do come back and get their degrees from the University of Oregon,” he said. “Those who have gone through the
University, not wasted this wonderful opportunity, received their degrees and are now playing professionally overseas — that’s a big enjoyment for me.”