The Ducks’ basketball season ended in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Ark., March 21, at the hands of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 76-69.
Oregon led by 10 at halftime, and by as many as 13 early in the second half, but would shoot 2 for 21 (9.5 percent) from three-point range and 8 for 32 (25 percent) from the field down the stretch to the Bulldogs’ 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) shooting in the second half.
“In essence, we got some of the same great looks in the second half that we got in the first half, the ball just didn’t go down,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.
Malik Hairston led Oregon with 22 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Tajuan Porter was next with 18 points and Maarty Leunen added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Ducks.
The game marked the last time in Oregon green and yellow for five players: Hairston, Leunen, Taylor, Mitch Platt and Ray Schafer.
Hairston, Leunen and Taylor came into the program together as one of the most heralded recruiting classes in Oregon history and have delivered a Pacific-10 Conference Tournament title and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, including an Elite 8 run in their junior campaign. All three rank among the elite in program history, statistically.
As the seniors are exiting, Oregon’s newest batch of highly touted recruits will be entering. Kent wasn’t willing to compare the class directly to other recruiting classes of his when he announced the class in December, but the five recruits have been ranked the No. 7 recruiting class in the country and Kent acknowledged their potential. He said when the class was announced that Oregon got every guy it wanted and answered every roster need.
“These are the ones we went after. They’re an excellent group for us to have here,” he said. “Losing that great class that’s leaving … we feel like we have another great one coming in the door.”
And they may walk through the door straight onto the court. Kent said all five have the ability, and will have the opportunity, to play right away.
“All of them are good enough players that they can step right in and play and help us,” he said. “They’re going to be impact players, every single one.”
The most heralded among the stack of blue chips is six-foot-ten-inch center Michael Dunigan of Chicago, who was ranked No. 3 among high school centers by Scout.com and No. 8 by Rivals.com.
“We feel that we got one of the premier big men in the country in Dunigan, and he’s got an opportunity to be maybe the best there is that’s out there,” said Kent.
With the impact that freshmen have had on college basketball (and the Pac-10) this season – and returning starters Porter, Joevan Catron and Churchill Odia still in the mix – the Ducks will be looking to reload rather than rebuild next season.
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