Early in the 2014 season, senior Joseph Young installed a chalkboard session for the rather large group of inexperienced rookies on the Oregon men’s basketball team. The sessions were meant to go over aspects of the game players needed to work on without a coach present.
Young said he was trying to create a family, and these meetings grew into something the entire team took part in.
It’s clear they had an impact. The 2014 Ducks, despite returning one starter and being predicted to finish eighth in the Pac-12, surprised many by winning nine of their last 10 regular season games and reaching the Pac-12 Tournament Final and second round of the NCAA Tournament. After the year concluded, Young told reporters that he hoped the group would take the experiences they gained and “learn off of it.” He also could sense the potential the group of returners had.
“I knew they were going to make a big run,” Young said over the phone Tuesday.
It was hard to tell just how good they could be, though. As a senior, Young had carried the load on offense all season and averaged 28 points per game in the team’s final four games.
Yet it proved to be a manageable problem to solve. One year removed from Young’s tenure at Oregon, the No. 8 Ducks enter postseason play as the 2016 Pac-12 regular season champions. From his vantage, he thinks the Ducks, with the firepower they’re displaying, can make a run at the “Final Four and beyond.”
The Ducks, unlike last year, have several players that can take over a game at any moment. It’s been on display all year, and was exemplified when they clinched the Pac-12 regular season title last Saturday in a 76-66 win over USC. Brooks, the team’s leading scorer, scored just three points, yet four other players scored in double figures.
“[We have] so many people that can do so many different things,” Benjamin said at practice Monday. “A lot of people stepped up at a lot of different times this year.”
The added experience from last year has certainly helped the team understand the type of toughness they’ll need in March, according to Benjamin.
“We know a little bit of what to expect,” he added.
It is obvious that the type of team Oregon is is one that can match Young’s expectations, and it’s why he’s excited about the coming weeks. Young’s even hoping that he can watch the team play in the later rounds of the NCAA Tournament in person.
For now, though, the contingent of players that Young led during the 2014-15 season will fulfill the role as the favorite in the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament — a position they might not have been in if it wasn’t for the experience gained with Young just a year prior.
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise