Former Rice forward Arsalan Kazemi, the first Iranian-born college basketball player, will attend classes Monday at the University after transferring to Oregon, joining the team to lift weights as well.
His eligibility at Oregon rides on a hardship waiver he will file in order to play immediately this year. Sources said if Kazemi doesn’t receive the waiver, he will sit out the year rather than playing in the NBA or overseas. The 6-foot-7 Kazemi averaged more than 12 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Owls as a junior.
The Ducks finished 24-10 last season, narrowing missing the NCAA Tournament and reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT.
It’s an exciting move for Dana Altman’s Ducks, who also recently added 6-foot-11 forward Waverly Austin, a transfer from South Florida. Kazemi reportedly chose Oregon over perennial national-title contender Kentucky in part due to the University’s quarter system of classes  — Kentucky and other semester schools are already well into their academic school year.
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Aaron Fentress at The Oregonian has a sneak peek at this week’s football matchup against Washington State.  Perhaps the biggest stat is that Oregon has won the last five meetings between the schools by a combined score of 254-78.
Both running back Kenjon Barner and tight end Colt Lyerla said after practice Monday that playing in Seattle will be no different than playing at the Cougars’ home stadium in Pullman, Wash. As a sophomore, Lyerla has never traveled to Pullman and said because of that he has no preference.
Barner, who did travel to Pullman two years ago, said his experience there wouldn’t have matter regardless.
“That was two years ago,” Barner said.
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If you’re not paying attention to Ducks volleyball, you should start. Oregon is still a perfect 8-0 on the year following their sweep on No. 2 USC in Los Angeles. The Women of Troy were coming off a win over No. 1 UCLA before losing momentum against the Ducks in the second set.
Oregon will tackle Utah and Colorado at home before a road trip to Berkeley, Calif., and Palo Alto, Calif., to take on California and Stanford. With the recent wins over Oregon State and USC, Oregon has taken the lead in the Pac-12 standings.
Additionally, junior setter Lauren Plum was selected as the Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Week. Plum’s 94 combined assists against the Beavers and Trojans were team highs for three-set games this year, and her 15.67 assists weekend per set average topped her nation-leading season average of 12.55. Her assault on the program’s record books continues, too. The Poway, Calif., native became just the third player in team history to top 3,000 career assists (3,034).
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It was a big weekend for former Oregon quarterback Bill Musgrave. After being honored at halftime of the Ducks’ 49-0 win over the Arizona Wildcats, Musgrave made it back to Minnesota in time to fulfill his duties as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings upset the San Francisco 49ers behind the stellar play of QB Christian Ponder, who tossed two touchdowns and scrambled for a third. Aside from former Stanford running back Toby Gerhart’s three fumbles, Musgrave’s offense played well above the level they’ve shown they can so far this year.
Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote a stellar profile on Musgrave last Saturday, detailing the former quarterback coach’s quirky proclivities. His QB handbook, “100 Ways for a QB to Lead His Team,” is full of practical (and not so practical) advice: “8: Brush Your Teeth Before Practice. The Huddle Will Appreciate It.”