GLENDALE, Ariz. — In 2014, the USA National Select Team, a squad with the nation’s top high school seniors, made its way to Portland for the Nike Hoop Summit. 
The U.S. team needed a group to scrimmage against in preparation for a looming weekend matchup against a team featuring the top international prospects in the world.
Payton Pritchard, fresh off a state title and Oregon 6A player of the year honors, received a call to join a ringer team of local players. The makeshift team was supposed to be a punching bag for the U.S. Select Team.
Instead, Pritchard, a sophomore, stole the show and dominated a group that featured future NBA talents Jahlil Okafor and Myles Turner.
“I have nothing to lose in those situations,” Pritchard said on Thursday. “I knew my name wasn’t that out there, so I just thought I should put up what I can do.”
Three years later, Pritchard’s same fearless mindset against an elite team brought him and Oregon to the Final Four in Phoenix. A player who is as well known for his confidence as his crossover, Pritchard has put his ego aside this year and become Oregon’s floor general during its greatest season in school history.
“A lot of freshmen come in scared, trying to figure out what they’re gonna do. They don’t want to mess up,” Oregon forward Jordan Bell said. “Payton came in and was straight up like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna come in to kill. I’m gonna get us in position and just keep playing my game.’”
In just over a year, Pritchard has gone from playing in the Oregon state championship game to facing Kansas and UNC in back-to-back weeks with the season on the line. Already considered by many as one of the best high school players in state history, it was difficult for Pritchard to take a backseat when he first arrived at Oregon.
When he joined the backcourt competition, Pritchard and returning point guard Casey Benson butted heads in the early going. Benson recorded the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation during the 2015-16 season and led Oregon to an Elite Eight run. Regardless, Pritchard wasn’t content with just surrendering the starting job.
“To be honest, at first we didn’t have the greatest relationship,” Pritchard said. “When I was growing up, I never liked anybody else I was competing against. I think in the world we live in today, you’re not going to like anybody who you compete with.”
As Mennenga tells it, the icy relationship carried over into early practices.
“I think any young guy, any young competitor who is 18, 19 years old, you’re all fired up,” Mennenga said. “We had to separate them a couple of times when they would go at it. The whistle would blow and those guys would still be going at it.”

Pritchard admitted that much of the friction came from him being “stubborn and hardheaded” early in the process. After playing with a chip on his shoulder for so long, surrendering even an inch in the battle for a starting spot wasn’t an option.
“But I got over that and opened myself up,” Pritchard said. “[Benson] taught me a lot of things going into the season.”
Pritchard was there to push Benson, who has improved his 3-point shooting from 36 to 40 percent this year. Benson has helped Pritchard learn how to play more efficiently and how to run a team.
The result has been the 10th-most efficient offense in the nation, according to Ken Pom. Pritchard is averaging 7.4 points per game in 28 minutes this season while settling into a role as a distributor. But with an ankle-breaking crossover and a penchant for drilling timely jumpers, his scoring comes in bunches when he plays aggressively, something he has struggled to do at times this year.
While he hasn’t had to do it at Oregon, Pritchard has proven that he is capable of rising to occasion and carrying an offense.
“I remember we were in Atlanta one time playing one of the top AAU teams in the country,” Gonzaga forward Zach Collins, who played two summers with Pritchard on Portland-based Team Fast, said. “In the first half he hit like six or seven 3s. I would just be running behind him and I would just get back on defense because I knew it was going in.”
The youngest point guard to playin the 2017 Final Four, Pritchard could be Oregon’s X-factor on Saturday when he matches up against North Carolina star Joel Berry, who played on the same U.S. Select Team Pritchard faced three years ago.
“You need to walk in with confidence to get what you want,” Pritchard said. “If you’re young [and] on an old team they’re gonna pick you apart if you’re soft at all. You’ve just got to be prepared and show them that you’re ready to go to battle.”
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney
Find all of the Emerald’s Final Four coverage here.