The Oregon football team broke out of the Willie Lyles stranglehold this week and made a few promising headlines as the start of summer camp draws near.
The Ducks have been running voluntary workout sessions on the practice fields outside the Casanova Center and from the looks of it things have gotten back on track.
Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris resumed practice with his teammates after taking some time to settle several issues related to unpaid traffic fines over the past few years.
A total of $4,486 in payments were submitted on behalf of Harris to a collections agency, which stemmed from fines related to five violation committed in his hometown.
Harris also settled nearly $4,300 in outstanding fines locally.
Elsewhere in Oregon football news, the Ducks received word that quarterback Jeff Lockie of Danville, Calif., intends to join the latest Oregon recruiting class. According to a report by DuckTerritory.com, the Ducks offered Lockie a scholarship via a phone conversation on Wednesday with Mark Helfrich, Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Rated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and a two-star recruit by Scout.com, Lockie chose Oregon after previously receiving a scholarship offer from San Diego State.
Behind starter Darron Thomas and backup Bryan Bennett, Oregon will also have incoming freshman Marcus Mariota along with Lockie and fellow Ducks signee Jake Rodrigues on the 2012 quarterback depth chart.
On the awards front, Oregon continued to pull in national recognition in the preseason. Junior LaMichael James is up for his second straight Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back, Thomas is in the running for the Davey O’Brien Award, and Josh Kaddu is among the selections for the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker.
Other Pac-12 opponents under consideration for the Doak Walker Award include Arizona’s Keola Antolin, UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin and Washington’s Chris Polk.
On the Davey O’Brien watch list, Thomas is joined by Stanford’s Andrew Luck, Arizona’s Nick Foles, USC’s Matt Barkley and Utah’s Jordan Wynn.
Kaddu is joined by Arizona State’s Vontaze Burfict, USC’s Chris Galippo, California’s Mychal Kendricks, and Stanford’s Shayne Skov on the Butkus Award watch list.