During the season on the Thursday Roundup, there was a ton of information to go back through and share a sort of high level overview of the week that was – but with the season over, the Roundup might vary some. This week, we will look at Men’s basketball a little bit, look ahead to the Polynesian Bowl some and continue talking a little bit about some recruiting notes.

FOOTBALL NOTES

So far there has not been a surprise to head to the NFL draft or really to hit the portal. Well, I say that almost tongue-in-cheek because certainly not very many expected Jaron Sagapolutele to hit the portal less than a month after signing, but the departure of Fernando Mendoza from Cal and the realization that he was likely going to be on the bench for two seasons at Oregon made this decision make sense.

There will be a lot of new normal things in the transfer portal moving forward and this could be one of those things.

On a separate note, the return of Bryce Boettcher makes a lot of sense for Bryce. While I have not seen the specifics of he advice given to Bryce by the NFL, what sticks out to me is that a year where he is not playing baseball until almost July could provide tremendous benefit to his NFL future.

PORTAL NOTES

This week the biggest news around the football team was the addition of two additional transfer portal players with commitments from Malik Benson and Makhi Hughes. As with all prospects who commit to Oregon we went ahead and did a scouting report for our subscribers. While we won’t regurgitate those reports there are some key highlights to discuss.

Malik Benson was the first to announce this week and there were some corners that did not understand the decision of the staff to go after Benson. He did not have a ton of production at either Alabama or Florida State. Benson wasn’t brought in to be the WR 1; he was brought in as a key depth piece who could be a threat to defenses with his 10.4 speed and to provide veteran leadership in the locker room. A low risk, high potential pickup that bridges a gap until Gatlin Bair makes it to campus while also providing valuable leadership to the young guys.

Makhi Hughes was a different story. I think it seemed pretty clear that the Ducks were going to lose Jordan James to the NFL Draft and the staff really wanted a guy that was ready to step in as the workhorse now as the younger players develop. Da’Jaun Riggs has a ton of potential but has 11 career carries. Jayden Limar has 49 and Jay Harris has just 10 carries at the FBS level. Havina back like Hughes is another player that can bridge the gap. Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill could be very special, but having Hughes is an insurance policy and a solid pickup.

One other name I mentioned to someone in conversation last week is USC transfer interior offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon. A second team All Big Ten guard, Pregnon could be an instant impact offensive lineman for the Ducks who will lose starting guards Nishad Strother and Marcus Harper in 2025 and I know there is interest on both sides. Other teams are in the mix, but the Ducks are doing some good things in this one and it would not surprise me at all if the Ducks added him to an already strong transfer portal haul at offensive line.

BASKETBALL THOUGHTS

Sometimes early season basketball is even more difficult to project than football. When Oregon beat a No. 9 ranked Alabama team early in the season, I am not sure a ton of people really felt like Oregon was a top ten team. But then they kept winning some games. In some ways the humbling loss to Illinois could prove beneficial to the season as a whole. The Ducks are going to have to keep grinding.

I also think we are starting to see that Big Ten basketball is also an adjustment for schools from the former Pac-12 Conference. I think where they are now at No. 15 is probably closer to what this team is at this point of the season. But I also know that Dana Altman does afantastic job at getting his teams to peak at the right time so this could be a fun year to watch March Madness because this season has started better than any since the Final Four team in 2016-17.

RECRUITING NOTES:

I have been hearing a ton of good things from national guys on Na’Eem Offord from San Antonio. He is the real deal and is going to push for very early playing time in Eugene.

Finally, we will be in Hawaii on Sunday morning to check in almost a dozen Oregon commits/signees in Honolulu for the Polynesian Bowl. A year ago, the attendance of Oregon players was impact significantly by a winter storm that prevented some flights from getting out. It does not look like that will be the case this week.

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All for now!