5 guards the Oregon Ducks should pursue in the transfer portal
One of the biggest changes in college basketball over the past few years has been the creation of the transfer portal, which effectively forces coaches to re-recruit their roster every offseason.
For Dana Altman and the Ducks, it means the only guarantee for next year is the departure of Will Richardson, who exhausted his final year of eligibility while becoming Oregon’s all-time leader in games played.
Jermaine Couisnard stated he plans to come back for next season, Tyrone Williams entered the transfer portal, but right now the Ducks are awaiting word on whether Keeshawn Barthelemy or Rivaldo Soares will be back or not.
That makes pursuing guards via the portal a difficult exercise at the moment, but Altman and his staff are no doubt perusing the names available anyway, looking for any way to improve the roster after failing to make the NCAA Tournament again in 2023.
Here is a look at five guards currently available in the portal who could fit in Eugene next season:
Khalif Battle - Temple
Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
Khalif Battle is one of the names Oregon has already been connected to, although they’ll have to get in line behind nearly every top tier program in the country.
Battle dealt with significant injury issues in three years at Temple, but he managed to play in 27 games last season and averaged 17.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. He’s a career 35.4% three point shooter and would add veteran experience and high level scoring to Dana Altman’s backcourt.
John Tonje - Colorado State
Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Tonje is another very popular name right now, getting attention from over 25 different schools since entering the portal.
Tonje steadily improved over his four seasons at Colorado State, culminating in a 2022-23 season where he started 33 games and averaged 14.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.8 steals while shooting 38.9% from deep on nearly five attempts per game.
It’s not hard to see why there is so much interest, and he’d be a welcome replacement for Richardson with his outside shooting.
Taran Armstrong - Cal Baptist
Syndication: Arizona Republic
Considered by many media outlets as the top guard available in the transfer portal, Armstrong will have no shortage of suitors at the collegiate and professional level.
If he does return to school, Arizona is considered the frontrunner for his services as a replacement for Kerr Kriisa, who entered the portal (and was not considered for this list).
However, if Oregon can convince Armstrong to head north instead of east, he would instantly give the Ducks a reliable starting point guard to help shepherd star freshmen Mookie Cook, KJ Evans, and Jackson Shelstad to the promised land.
Mike Mitchell - Pepperdine
Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Mitchell is already drawing interest from high profile programs like Arkansas and Arizona, and is on a visit at Minnesota, but if Oregon could pry him away they’d be getting an elite three point shooter and floor general to help replace Will Richardson and any other guards that might be headed out the door this offseason.
Mike Meadows - Portland
Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Meadows began his college career at Eastern Washington, following his coach Shantay Legans to Portland where he blossomed into a key contributor in the WCC.
Injuries limited him to just 21 games last year, but he averaged a career-high 11 points along with 2.2 assists while shooting 35.9% from deep.
Meadows is more of a depth option, but could be a nice piece for the Ducks if they end up losing multiple guards to the portal.
