Oregon’s rough 2025-26 season hasn’t changed the way CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein sees Dana Altman.
While breaking down Big Ten teams on Inside College Basketball, Rothstein pointed to the Ducks as a potential sleeper in 2026-27, even after a year he described as a “nightmare season.” His read is simple: Altman still knows how to coach, Oregon addressed needs in the transfer portal, and the Ducks could climb all the way back into the NCAA Tournament picture.
“I think Oregon has done a nice job in the transfer portal,” Rothstein said. “I think Oregon is a team that could be one of the most improved teams in the Big Ten…Dana Altman didn’t forget how to coach.
He was ruptured by injuries last year. I think Oregon is a team with this personnel, with Dana Altman, that will find its way back into the NCAA Tournament.”
That optimism comes after a brutal year in Eugene. Oregon finished 12-20 overall and 5-15 in Big Ten play, its worst season since Altman arrived in 2010. Now entering his 17th season at the helm, Altman owns a 382-182 record at Oregon, along with 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Sweet 16 runs and one Final Four.
The Ducks are also trying to do this with a roster that barely resembles last season’s group. Their top three scorers from a year ago - Jackson Shelstad, Nate Bittle and Kwame Evans Jr. - are gone, either to the transfer portal or the pros. In all, eight players left the program through the portal.
Oregon answered with eight incoming transfers of its own, including four four-star additions: Dwayne Aristode, Taylor Bol Bowen, Jasper Johnson and Tyrone Riley.
Aristode, a four-star recruit, spent his freshman season at Arizona in 2025-26 and saw limited action on a loaded roster, averaging 3.8 points and 13.3 minutes per game. He’ll be looking for a larger role in Eugene as a sophomore.
Bol Bowen just finished his junior year at Alabama after previously playing at Florida State. Last season, he averaged 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Johnson came to Kentucky as part of its 2025 recruiting class and posted 4.9 points in 12.0 minutes per game last season.
Riley spent his first two college seasons with San Francisco and averaged 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds from 2024-2026.
Oregon had reached the NCAA Tournament in both 2024 and 2025 before last season’s collapse. With the bracket expanding from 68 to 76 teams this year, the Ducks’ path back could get a little wider when the 2027 field is unveiled in March.
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