Dillon Brooks, a 6' 7" forward who was originally in the class of 2015 but is considering re-classifying to e eligible for 2014 is taking an unofficial visit to Oregon on Wednesay. Brooks is considered by some to be the best Canadian player in the class of 2015. His ability to re-classify is based on his academic standing and it appears he has good chance of doing so.
Adding Brooks would be a boost to a squad that's seen a wave of turnover since they left the court after losing to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament. The latest blow was Oregon's academic rejection of 6' 10 pf/center Ray Kasongo even though the NCAA had cleared him. Apparently, Oregon did not accept an online class that the NCAA accepted. Kasongo is now considering enroling at Cal, among others.
Oregon's roster is so thin with all the departures, transfers and recruits that Oregon didn't accept academically for some odd reason, that the addition of any talent, let alone one of Brooks' stature, has to be met with a massive sigh by Dana Altman and his staff. Don't get me wrong, every player on Oregon's roster this year is going to contribute and there's no dead weight at all for the first time in years. But They really only have 8-9 guys; Joe Young, Jalil Abdul Bassit, Jordan Bell, Ahmaad Rorie, Michael Chandler, Elgin Cook, Dewayne Benjamin, Casey Benson and Jaquan Lyle. And, Lyle's doesn't have a test score at this point so he's not eligible yet.
Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, and Maryland are other schools that are recruiting Brooks.
Getting Lyle eligible and Brooks into the fold would give the Ducks a 10 deep roster. Only 2 post players and only one real center in Michael Chandler, but they could play 5 guys who are 6' 4" and above and they'd have phenomenal athleticism. Once again though, either way, only 3 players return and meshing 7, 8, or 9 guys together is a brutal for any coach. Fortunately, many have been on campus and around each other for awhile and the growing together process has begun.
Here's hoping Brooks becomes a Duck and Lyle gets his score. If so, Oregon's in okay shape with so much talent between 6' 4" and 6' 8". Their issues won't be offensive, it'll be defending on the block. Because Chandler still needs to adjust to the next level of play, and he can't challenge everything because they have no backup for him. Should be an interesting year one way or another.
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