The Oregon Ducks are on the cusp of opening up their first NCAA tournament ever as a No. 1 seed. Oregon will take on Holy Cross on Friday in its opener, and many people expect the Ducks to be able to make a deep run and maybe even represent the West region in Houston.
A big part of Oregon's success this season has been forward Chris Boucher, who has blocked a school-record 106 shots in his first year with the program. Boucher transferred from Northwest College in Wyoming, but it had been unclear if this would be his only year of eligibility with Oregon or if he would get one more.
There was some uncertainty about when Boucher's NCAA eligibility clock had officially started after he decided to transfer to Oregon so he had officially been ruled a senior. However, Oregon filed an appeal with the NCAA arguing three points as to why it believed Boucher deserved one more year of eligibility, not the least of which was so that he could get his degree.
The NCAA ruled on that appeal on Wednesday afternoon and decided to grant the forward an extra year of eligibility with Oregon. The 6-foot-10 forward has averaged 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in his first season in Eugene and now the Ducks can look forward to having him anchor their defense for one more season.
Oregon's focus is on right now as they enter the tournament hot and have as good of a chance as anyone to cut down the nets at the Final Four. But in college basketball you can never stop thinking about the future and this news has to be music to head coach Dana Altman's ears. The Ducks will be losing seniors Dwayne Benjamin and Elgin Cook after this year so the fact that they will have Boucher back is huge for them to sustain this excellence next season.
Boucher has emerged as a guy that many see as a next-level talent because not only is he a great shot blocker, but his offensive game is diverse. Boucher has shot 36 percent from three this season and made 54 percent of his field goals overall. Draftexpress doesn't have Boucher in its latest mock draft, but having one more year at Oregon should enable him to improve his stock for the NBA.
