When I hear about new recruits and transfers with expressed interest in Oregon, there’s a pretty general routine I stick to as far as researching is concerned.
Consult other local sources in addition to those that broke the news, read up a bit more, check his stat lines, and hit YouTube for a few highlights. I’m sure most of you do the same.
As I read the news about Olu Ashaolu transferring from Louisiana Tech on Tuesday afternoon, I went through this brief process, and I must say a few of his highlights were incredible. If you haven’t stumbled upon his vicious one-handed slam at Texas last season, I highly recommend it.@@http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/05/olu_ashaolu_forward_from_louis.html@@
The more I read and the more I saw, the more I liked. Ashaolu averaged better than 14 points and nine rebounds in his junior season, while earning all-defensive team recognition in the Western Athletic Conference. He seems to have the physical intangibles in place to compete for Oregon immediately (need I remind you it was Texas he was playing in that highlight reel slam), and already has a friend on the team in Devoe Joseph, who transferred to Oregon last winter.@@http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ashaolu_olu00.html@@@@http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/25762816-55/altman-joseph-oregon-basketball-coach.csp@@
Joseph was teammate of Ashaolu’s on the Canadian junior national team — he was raised in Toronto — and apparently helped persuade Ashaolu into checking out Eugene.@@http://www.gopherbasketballtickets.com/main/players/Devoe+Joseph@@
Now that he’s on board and set to enroll in a graduate program this summer, Ashaolu looks like one of the final pieces in Dana Altman’s first recruiting class. From that group — highlighted by Jabari Brown — one thing is for certain: Oregon seems to be on the right track athletically.@@http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/10/oregon_basketball_jabari_brown.html@@
After three years of being physically outmatched in most every Pac-10 game, it seems the Ducks have taken a page out of the football team’s book and improved their overall depth and physical talent. Not to slight E.J. Singler or Garrett Sim, who I have no doubt will be major contributors next season, but it was blatantly clear last season that Oregon needed more Tyrone Nareds on the court at all times.
When Teondre Williams struggled with Altman’s coaching styles, Oregon took a big hit athletically when he wasn’t on the floor. Nared came on late in the year, which was much appreciated by the fans as he developed into a strong shot-blocker and emphatic dunker.
Those are the types of things that Oregon has desperately lacked over the last few seasons — someone who will put a dunk-face on the Roeland Schaftenaars of the world. With added depth at the guard positions — something I wouldn’t have openly accepted prior to the transfer request by Malcolm Armstead — Oregon becomes a much more dynamic team with this recruiting class.@@http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/04/oregon_basketball.html@@
Junior college transfer Carlos Emory has a similar build to Ashaolu, and has great leaping ability as well. Add in Brett Kingma (rumored to be the best outside shooter in the nation as a prep senior), Austin Kuemper (6-foot-9, 240 pounds) and Bruce Barron (6-3 point guard), and you’ve got yourself a physically legitimate contender in the Pac-12 next season.@@http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/26009234-41/emory-season-college-ducks-oregon.html.csp@@@@http://rivals.yahoo.com/oregon/basketball/recruiting/player-Austin-Kuemper-111430@@@@http://rivals.yahoo.com/oregon/basketball/recruiting/player-Bruce-Barron-102146@@
Now, I understand you can’t base a season on raw physical talent, but in Altman’s system of pressure defense and transition offense, a lot can be said for those young athletes. Will they be willing to stick around and do the work? That remains to be seen. But there’s no question expectations are higher entering this season.
They have to be.
Even with the losses of Armstead, Williams and likely Martin Seiferth, Oregon seems to have replaced those losses in full. And with the exception of Seiferth, who barely saw anything other than the practice court last season, the Ducks also drop a few attitude issues as well.@@http://special.registerguard.com/web/sports/26210524-41/altman-players-oregon-ducks-season.html.csp@@
With the new additions, no matter how raw they’ll be in the half-court set, a new enthusiasm should surround the basketball program. For the first time since 2008 (R.I.P. Michael Dunigan, Matthew Humphrey, Drew Wiley, Josh Crittle and now Williams) Oregon has an incoming class worth getting excited about.
At the very least, you know we’ll get to see a few more high-fliers.