Oregon Ducks

Oregon Ducks

While we may never see the level of play that the 2016 class of Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard brought to the University of Oregon, Oregon women’s basketball head coach Kelly Graves is very optimistic.

The dynamic duo of Ionescu and Hebard brought national prominence and attention to Eugene, which aided Graves in signing the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2020. 

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Coach Graves joined host Jordan Kent on the latest Talkin’ Ducks Podcast.

For a coach who is already in the middle of it, I’m already looking to next year and how we can do this all over again. We are obviously going to be very talented. We’ll be young, but listen the Ducks aren’t going anywhere. We’ll be there on the national landscape. — Kelly Graves 

Headlined by five five-star recruits, the future at Oregon is still very bright. 

- Sydney Parrish (a 6-foot shooting guard from Indiana) averaged 24.8 points, eight rebounds and 2.4 steals per game for 22-3 Hamilton Southeastern High School.

- Kylee Watson (a 6-foot-3 forward from New Jersey) averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds for Mainland Regional High School.

 

- Maddie Scherr (a 5-foot-11 guard from Kentucky) averaged 14.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.9 steals for Ryle High School.

- Angela Dugalic (a 6-foot-4 forward from Illinois) led Main West High School to a 30-4 record. 

- Te-Hina Paopao (a 5-foot-9 guard from California) averaged 22.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists while making 82 3-pointers on 37 percent shooting.

Not to forget the talent that came off the bench for Graves this season, who individually could have started at most D1 programs in the country: sophomore Taylor Chavez and freshman Jaz Shelley. Plus, Graves will have a healthy Sedona Prince (transfer from Texas) and Nyara Sabally (the younger sister of Satou Sabally) in addition to Erin Boley (the one returner), Holly Winterburn, Morgan Yaeger, Lucy Cochran, and Lydia Giomi.

The sellout crowds at Matthew Knight Arena aren’t going anywhere. It will remain just that: sellout. As Ionescu said in her senior day speech, “The house we built.” That house has a stable foundation.

You can listen to the full Talkin’ Ducks Podcast below: