It’s not easy to miss N’Faly Dante, but as Oregon men’s basketball assembled for its 2024 Big Ten Media Day, there was an obvious, 7-foot, 230-pound hole. A team searching for its identity was missing its central piece. The day was quieter than the last.
For the Ducks, replacing Dante, who graduated after winning Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2023-24 and was drafted into the Houston Rockets’ system, won’t be a plug-and-play solution. The Malian was far too unique for that, and Dana Altman has no one close to his physicality and size.
Instead, they’ll look to “Dante-by-committee”: a combination of center Nate Bittle and bigger, stronger forwards will execute Altman’s vision of a faster, small-ball scheme that he hopes will allow the Ducks to thrive in their new conference.
Last year, Dante averaged 10 field goal attempts per game, to go with his 9.2 total rebounds and 17 points. That’s what the Ducks are trying to replace.
Bittle, Oregon’s only 7-footer on the roster this year, is returning from a frustrating junior season in Eugene. The center missed 31 of Oregon’s 36 total games due to an illness and wrist injury. He’s been rehabbing and added 30 lbs of muscle over the summer, so he will be a strong option when the Ducks need to go big.
Altman talked about Bittle’s value on defense at Oregon’s 2024 Big Ten Media Day — the local product is a rim defender and can at least give the Ducks a semblance of what Dante did in the defensive paint. Dante averaged 6.4 defensive rebounds in his final year in Oregon. No other player managed more than 3.5.
“He’s got by far the most blocks in practice,” Altman said. “He understands what we want to do…and we’ll need him on the floor for his rim protection.”
But through three games, Bittle averaged 7.7 defensive rebounds, including eight in the opener against UC Riverside. Given, it’s lesser competition than what Oregon faced down the stretch in 2023, but the signs are promising.
The frontcourt group around Dante last year wasn’t at its most physical, either. A freshman Kwame Evans Jr. was still learning how to throw his weight around, while 6-foot-5 Jadrian Tracey and 6-foot-6 Mookie Cook (when healthy) weren’t going to dominate that space either.
Enter Brandon Angel.
The 6-foot-8, 205-pound senior spent four years at Stanford, where he made a habit of bullying the Ducks inside. In his first game in Eugene, he continued: five total rebounds and 17 points (five for five from inside the arc) were key to Oregon’s win. He also went to the line for seven shots — and made all seven.
“Coach emphasized during one of the first timeouts (against Riverside) that we’ve got to cut better off the ball — not just stand on the perimeter,” Angel said postgame. “And the lanes were open when you cut and post up strong.”
Angel pointed out that the Ducks led the points in the paint margin that night, 48-22.
“So you take what the defense gives you,” he finished. “I think we all knew we had the advantage with our size in the paint.” Angel is averaging 10.3 points and 4.0 total rebounds per game through the first three games.
Evans Jr., the sophomore forward, is also ready to join that “bigger and stronger” conversation. He led the team in points on opening night (23) on 8-15 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. He’s not going to dominate the paint the way Dante did, but he showed more than flashes of a player who can draw attention and handle it well.
“He’s working harder,” Altman said after the Riverside game. “He’s bringing more effort to practice. When he plays hard, he’s really counting — sometimes he has a tendency to coast, and we’ve got to get him out of that mode. When he’s active on those toes and going hard, he’s pretty good.”
The surrounding cast contains Tracey — a leader back for a final year — and finally-healthy Mookie Cook. Cook’s pressing ability was what shone on opening night against the Highlanders, especially when the Ducks stepped up the court near the end of halves.
Altman is also insistent that transfer forward Supreme Cook’s debut will help in this department. The journeyman averaged 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in his lone year at Georgetown University, but hasn’t yet made his debut in Eugene. In the meantime, though, the Ducks will continue to prove that they can win without their dominant center.
Maybe, someday, they won’t miss Dante.
