The Oregon men’s basketball program is undergoing a youth movement.
The Ducks’ 2004-05 roster features six sophomores, four incoming freshmen, one redshirt freshman and most notably, zero seniors.
Don’t be mistaken, however. Oregon’s newbies are some of the most talented in the country and should provide for an exciting, up-tempo brand of basketball.
Guards Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor, Chamberlain Oguchi and forward Maarty Leunen compose one of the top recruiting classes in Oregon basketball history.
Add sophomore point guard Aaron Brooks, junior-college transfer Kenny Love and three seven-footers, and head coach Ernie Kent finds himself with a deep, talented team he said can compete with anyone in the Pacific-10 Conference.
“From a talent basis, we’re right there,” Kent said. “They’re big, they’re athletic and their work ethic is already in place.”
Plenty of media attention has been paid to the youthful Ducks with the addition of Hairston. The 6-foot-6 Detroit, Mich., phenom was ranked as the top shooting guard prospect in the country by Rivals and No. 7 overall coming out of Renaissance High School. He’s considered Oregon’s highest-profile signee since Greg Ballard and Ron Lee during the 1970s.
Rivals ranked Taylor as the 50th-best player in the country, while Leunen was ranked 60th and Oguchi 74th.
“In my 13 years as a head coach, I’ve never been around a team that has received so much hype over the course of a summer and fall heading into a basketball season,” Kent said. “Obviously that’s a good place to be because that means we’ve done something right.”
Hairston said the hype surrounding his arrival at Oregon hasn’t derailed his focus of being successful.
“There’s no pressure,” Hairston said. “I know a lot of people are raving about it, but honestly, I’m just focused on what I want to get done. I want to become a winning program. This is a good basketball team. We have a lot to learn but we’ll be there every step of the way.”
Along with a talented group of young wing players, the Ducks will have a more-experienced Brooks running the show. After being selected to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team last season, Brooks spent the summer improving his perimeter shooting to become a more complete offensive weapon.
The Seattle native will also take on a leadership role with the loss of seniors Luke Jackson, James Davis, Andre Joseph and Jay Anderson.
“My role on this team is to be the floor general,” Brooks said. “You know (the freshmen) are going to fall sometimes. That’s human nature. But we’ll be there to pick them up when it happens.”
Kenny Love will provide depth at the position after playing his freshman season at Casper College in Wyoming. Kent said the Ducks “won’t miss a beat” when Love takes over for Brooks.
Oregon will be strong inside as well with four players standing 6-foot-10 or taller. Junior Ian Crosswhite returned from a five-week trip to Australia in the best shape of his career and is ready to improve on his honorable mention all-conference honors from last season.
Sophomore Mitch Platt received valuable playing time last year and showed he can hold his own in the paint. Junior Matt Short and redshirt freshman Ray Schafer are also expected to contribute.
Kent said the Ducks’ talent and depth will allow them to run teams into the ground with an attacking style of offense.
“We’re going to run,” Kent said. “We’re
going to try and make the game as fast and chaotic as we possibly can with this group. We have a lot of depth, a lot of size, a lot of weapons and a lot of speed and we want people to play to our strength and that’s going to their bench.”
With so many young players, maintaining a high level of confidence will be critical to Oregon’s success. Self-assurance shouldn’t be a problem for the time-being, as the youthful Ducks receive plenty of preseason attention.
“It’s their time,” Crosswhite said. “They need that kind of hype to give them confidence coming into the season. When it comes down to it, it will take at least 10 of us to win these games. They’re going to need that confidence when their shots aren’t dropping.”

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