While the return of a certain big man to his home state today in UCLA blue and gold may highlight, for some, a glaring recruiting failure for Ernie Kent, turn your attention to the young men in green and yellow and you will see not only a handful of case-by-case successes for Kent, but an entire recruiting culture at Oregon that is refreshing, revolutionary, and just plain impressive.
You see, all coaches pay lip service to academic success as important to their programs, but Kent has integrated a system of specific guideposts for his athletes that can guarantee them a degree in three years, thus freeing them up to either enjoy their senior seasons to the fullest, as we are seeing with the current senior class, or leave early for the next level.
Much has been made of the completion of degree requirements for five of this season’s seniors, three of them starters, before the conference schedule even started. These young men certainly deserve credit for their efforts, but the story within the story is the culture of degree completion that now permeates the Oregon basketball program and the system that Kent and his staff have developed to help facilitate these young men’s success.
Kent said that the idea for this system was prompted by the early departure of Luke Ridnour for the NBA.
“We saw the NBA really coming after college players and taking them out early,” Kent said. “We felt like it was a point for us to really establish ourselves and set ourselves apart from the rest of college basketball.”
And they have, as the on-court success of this season’s senior class, coupled with their academic success off the court, is really unprecedented in major college basketball. This is the legacy that this senior class will leave behind, regardless of how this season pans out.
“To me, they (the senior class) set the standard for a new legacy,” Kent said. “I just don’t know what other program in the country has done that, and had that many guys that have done it, and that many starters that have done it. It’s just not heard of in this day and age.”
Some may criticize me for singing the praises of athletes who may have a more complete support system in place to help them succeed than the average student, but it’s not like these guys are getting degrees in sport and leisure studies or sports management. The five seniors who have completed their degrees already feature three bachelor’s degrees in political science (Malik Hairston, Mitch Platt, Ray Schafer), one in economics (Maarty Leunen) and one in sociology (Bryce Taylor). It’s just not possible to get through the coursework for these degrees without hard work and a certain level of intellectual acumen.
“They’re not in any Mickey Mouse degrees,” Kent said. “They have worked and they’re bright kids.”
The end result of all this is the perfect recruiting storm here at Oregon. Ask any of the players why they chose Oregon and the most common answer is the style of play. The Ducks are well-known for their high-flying, run-and-gun style of play that attracts top-level talent.
But how do you sell it to their parents? Well, just as most college recruits are attracted to a high-energy style of play, their parents are sure to love the culture of academic success that Kent and his staff are cultivating.
“We’ve put a system in place where we’ve walked into homes and said, ‘Hey, if you stay with us three years we can guarantee you that you can get your degree,’” Kent said. “Now we’ve got the proof to prove to people, to walk in the door and say ‘Look, here’s guys that have done it. They’ve been successful on the floor and they’ve got their degrees in hand when they leave here.’”
So while this season almost certainly won’t end with a send-off parade for these departing seniors, maybe it should. Because the work that they have put in on the court and in the classroom here has defined the type of program Oregon is and hopefully will be for the foreseeable future: A group of solid citizens and serious students, who just so happen to be a supremely talented group of ballers that are a thrill to watch.
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