Ducks Take Flight: Four Alumni Ignite NBA Season
Four former Oregon Ducks—guard Payton Pritchard, center Chris Boucher, forward Dillon Brooks, and big man N’Faly Dante—have launched their 2025–26 NBA campaigns in eye-catching roles. Pritchard, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, stepped into Boston’s starting backcourt amid injuries and trades, logging 16 points in his debut. Boucher signed a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the Celtics, reuniting with Pritchard after seven seasons in Toronto, and chipped in six points off the bench. Dillon Brooks brought his trademark defensive intensity to the Phoenix Suns, pouring in 22 points in a season-opening win. And N’Faly Dante earned a standard Atlanta Hawks contract after dominating Summer League play, poised as a third-string center with upside if Porziņģis or Okongwu falter.
Fans thought Oregon’s ducks only quacked on the college courts—until they fanned out across the NBA like an invasion of feathery freeloaders. Payton Pritchard is now Boston’s honorary goose that lays golden threes; Chris Boucher flew in on a one-year contract to rescue the frontcourt from impending doom; Dillon Brooks, basketball’s resident villain, is still perfecting his glare; and N’Faly Dante? He’s perched on Atlanta’s bench, waiting to squawk his way up the depth chart. Who knew autographs came with webbed feet?
Freshman Giant: Akili Smith Jr.’s Jaw-Dropping QB Duo
True freshman quarterback Akili Smith Jr. stunned social media by posting a photo with starter Dante Moore at Autzen Stadium, accentuating an absurd height and weight gap: Smith at 6’5″, 231 lbs dwarfs Moore’s 6’3″, 206 lbs frame. Though Smith has yet to take the field, he arrives as a four-star recruit ranked No. 15 at his position, joining Oregon’s lineage of NFL quarterbacks—from Marcus Mariota and Justin Herbert to Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix. As Moore headlines Oregon’s current success with 1,686 passing yards and 19 touchdowns, speculation swirls whether he’ll stay another year or enter the draft, while Smith gears up to become the Ducks’ next QB export.
Move over, Ripley’s Believe It or Not—this is the new “You won’t believe your eyes” era of Oregon athletics. Akili Smith Jr. and Dante Moore took one selfie and single-handedly broke the internet’s necks doing a double-take. Oregon’s quarterback blueprint now reads like a conveyor belt: churn out Heisman winners, draft picks, and Instagram headliners at will. Meanwhile, incoming freshmen peak at recruiting rankings like it’s high school prom. Next up? A viral TikTok of the line coach bench-pressing a 300-pound defensive end.
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