I was sitting in class the other day when a student a few rows in front of me pulled up goducks.com on his laptop and started scrolling the home page. I couldn’t blame him this particular day, as I haven’t the slightest clue what we covered in that lecture. What I do remember, however, is the banner that showed up on the student’s computer screen.
Split down the middle and facing away from the camera stood the Singler brothers — Kyle and E.J. — in an advertisement entitled “Singler Minded,” which is promoting the Nov. 27 matchup between Duke and Oregon at the Rose Garden in Portland. On the left side you see E.J.’s clean-shaven head with a white and green jersey, and on the right is Kyle and his shaggy long hair and the infamous black and blue Duke uniform.
The banners have been hung up around the Portland area to showcase what will be the first ever matchup between the two brothers. My personal investment in this contest extends further than my duties of covering Oregon basketball, overlapping the return of what was once a home-state hero.
For those of you not originally from Oregon, the Singler brother matchup probably seems like little more than what is sure to be an absolute beatdown of the Ducks. I’m talking triple-digit margin of victory here — seriously. Regardless, Kyle’s first return to Oregon since winning the state championship during his senior season has more storylines running through it than the Cam Newton saga.
I can remember making the trip to Mac Court during my sophomore and junior years of high school to watch Kevin Love and Lake Oswego take on Kyle Singler and South Medford in the 6A state title game. Love, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves, earned his ring as a junior, and Singler took his the following year.
That level of play was, and still is, the best prep basketball Oregon has probably ever seen. I’ll admit I cheered for South Medford, mostly because of point guard Michael Harthun (now with Portland State), and largely because they seemed like the underdog. Looking back, it’s hard to consider a team with multiple Singler relatives and Harthun in one starting five an underdog, but it seemed logical at the time.
Kyle finished his career as the sixth-leading scorer in Oregon state history with 2,207 points, averaging 29.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals during his senior campaign. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward has seen his scoring numbers increase in each of his first three seasons as a Blue Devil, improving from 13.3 as a freshman, 16.5 as a sophomore, and 17.7 as a junior in leading Duke to a dramatic national title win over Butler.
The other half of the Singler brother combo, E.J., emerged as one of the hardest-working and most consistent players on the Duck roster during his true freshman campaign a year ago. Like his older brother, E.J. was a force at South Medford, earning 6A state and Gatorade player of the year accolades after putting up more than 21.8 points and 10.8 boards per game his senior season.
First-year head coach Dana Altman expressed early this season that E.J. takes a lot of pride in representing the Ducks and the state of Oregon as a college basketball player, and his blue-collar mentality has him pinned as one of Altman’s go-to guys this season.
Aside from my first trip into enemy territory at the Rose Garden, the opportunity to watch the Duke Blue Devils in person is something I will relish. Growing up on Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavey, and Shane Battier-caliber basketball conformed me into a Duke fan early and often.
I used to say I would make it to a Duke game at Cameron Indoor Stadium before I die, and this matchup in Portland will be a not-so-close substitute for the real thing. The Cameron Crazies may not be in full force, nor the Oregon Pit Crew, but it will be a game I will remember for years to come.
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