Over his four-year career, Payton Pritchard has had 37 different teammates and never entered a season with less than eight new faces.
The Oregon basketball program has lingered in a constant state of flux over the past four years. It has lost top players to the draft and the transfer portal alike, while others graduated, leaving head coach Dana Altman to pick up the pieces. But through it all, there’s been one constant. In a four-year timeframe with the most turnover the program has ever dealt with, Pritchard endured. He played a myriad of roles and gave his all to the program. With it, he became the face of men’s hoops in Eugene, making indelible marks on the program’s all-time charts.
He’ll leave Oregon as its career leader in wins, assists, games played and games started. He played in 444 consecutive games and scored a point in every one.
He scored at least 19 points against every Pac-12 opponent this year, leading Oregon to an outright conference championship along the way. But it’s not just the numbers or the accolades, it’s the manner in which he did it.
“We’ve really been dependent on him to score a lot, [and for] a lot of late-game heroics,” Altman said. “No doubt, he’s done his part. We’ve had guys looking for him. Our guys really have a lot of faith, and they’ve given up part of themselves, you know, to make sure he’s got the ball at the right time.”
Those late-game heroics were on full display all year. The Ducks played six overtime games, winning five of them in large part to his clutch shot-making.
When the Ducks needed a basket, all eyes turned to Pritchard.
He scored the last 13 points for the Ducks in a win in Ann Arbor, Michigan, against the Wolverines; he drained a 25-foot fall-away game-winner in Seattle, completing a 16-point comeback against the Huskies; he helped down Arizona in Eugene with a late midrange jumper and poured in a career-high 38 points in a, 73-72, overtime win.
“Everybody likes to win; I like those guys that hate to lose,” Altman said. “And he’s one of them.”
It’s something he hasn’t done much of in his career.
He led his West Linn High School team to four-straight Oregon state championships. Then, he joined a Final Four-bound Ducks team in 2016-17. He carved out an immediate role for himself, playing 28 minutes per game.
“It is crazy looking back at my freshman year,” Pritchard said. “I think I had an understanding of what it takes to be a winner. To be a winner doesn’t mean you need to score points or do certain things, it’s whatever that team needs and every year I tried to do that.”
Following the 2016-17 season, the team fell apart as its top three scorers elected to pursue NBA dreams.
Now, Pritchard would be relied on as the team’s go-to option. He was ready, doubling his scoring numbers and improving his shooting percentages across the board. But the Ducks failed to make the dance and instead landed in the National Invitational Tournament.
Pritchard vowed to take his game up a level. He would do anything in his will to get Oregon to the NCAA Tournament.
Fast forward 12 months and Pritchard had the Ducks in position to break into the Elite Eight. But Oregon had overachieved, only making the tournament due to a Pac-12 Tournament title — winning four games in four days. Then, they took down two teams, and almost a third — the eventual National Champion Virginia Cavaliers — as a No. 12 seed in March Madness.
Injuries crippled the 2018-19 Ducks, but Pritchard’s inconsistencies plagued the team all year. So it wasn’t a surprise when he spent a good chunk of his senior day speech praising his coach’s patience.
“Coach always stuck with me even when I was down,” he said.
Then again, Altman had to. Pritchard was the constant. They had built a relationship, one that wouldn’t falter.
Sure, Pritchard had dominated the postseason, but if he played to that level the whole year, the Ducks might have found themselves with a much more favorable seed in March. Pritchard knew he was capable and set out to transform his game and his body for his final year.
Ducks fans had begun to malign the guard in the midst of his down year in 2018. This year, they were introduced to a new player altogether.
Only two players remained from the previous year’s roster alongside Pritchard. They noticed an undeniable difference in his play.
“He has a lot more confidence in his game,” sophomore guard Will Richardson said. “He takes shots he probably wouldn’t have taken last year. [His confidence] is rubbing off on everybody else on the team.”
Confidence is a good word for it. It has shown up in his shot-selection all year. He shot from deep, extending his range seemingly by the week. His conditioning was top-notch — leading the nation in minutes played at 36.6 a game — and his finishing at the rim had taken a leap, too.
Pritchard has worked hard enough that confidence doesn’t matter. He bought into an established culture when he arrived, then he reset the culture and thrived in it.
He’s the third major-conference player since 1995 to average 20 points, five assists, and four rebounds per game, all while shooting 40% from three.
“I don’t fear failure,” he said. “I work too hard to fear it. Been through too many ups and downs — nothing affects me in that regard.”
Teammates took notice of Pritchard’s work ethic and buy-in. He acted like a professional on and off the court, day in and day out, and it started to rub off on them, even the newcomers.
“I’ve been really appreciative of the tone he has set,” Altman said. “I think the word culture is so overused but he’s just done a good job of setting an example. … He’s the first one to practice and a lot of times he’s the last one to leave. Days off, he’s taking care of himself, he’s doing his recovery, he’s getting shots up.”
It’s been Pritchard’s year. He regained the once-lost trust and love of fans and put the Ducks back into the national scene. It was never about him. It was never about the stats, or the awards. He came back for a reason.
“I came back to win championships,” he said.
It’s unfortunate. He worked tirelessly towards one goal and now won’t get a chance to play for it.
But his impressive season won’t go unnoticed. After disappointing in the regular season, he caught the eye of NBA scouts last March with his aggressive play and efficient shot creation. That alone wouldn’t have been enough, but he’s been that player all season. Now, he should have a chance to play at the next level. Pritchard’s story isn’t over.
Most importantly, he went out on top, as a winner. And in the eyes of Ducks fans, that’s how he’ll be remembered.
