Pac-12: Oregon Ducks Need JaQuan Lyle

The news broke Sept. 17 that JaQuan Lyle was no longer listed on Oregon’s basketball roster for the upcoming season.

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Apparently, Lyle’s eligibility was in question this summer according to

, although I was unaware of that information prior to Lyle’s name being pulled from Oregon’s roster.

If Lyle was eligible to play for Oregon, the only reason he wouldn’t be listed on the roster is if he was denied admission to the school. In that case, Lyle would become the second Oregon commit to be denied admission to the university this summer. Canadian Ray Kasongo was denied admission to Oregon in August.

Heading into the season, I ranked Lyle as the fourth-best freshman in the Pac-12 this season and also thought he had an outside shot at stealing the Freshman of the Year award. Right now, I don’t see away Lyle gets on the court for the Ducks this season, as the first day of school was Sept. 29.

Lyle will likely land on his feet after this situation is over. His route might be different, but there is surely a junior college or program that will accept him by the start of next season. He’s a top-tier talent with NBA potential; someone will want him, even if Oregon doesn’t.

Lyle also has the talent and potential to go the Brandon Jennings and, more recently, the Emmanuel Mudiay route and start playing professionally overseas. Lyle has the size and quickness to generate consideration from the top clubs in Europe, like Mudiay. After one season, I could see Lyle coming back for the NBA draft in June.

Whatever Lyle decides, it still has the same impact for Oregon.

For the Ducks, Lyle’s admission issue is the cherry on top of the cake of a disastrous offseason. Eight members of the 2013-14 Ducks have moved on from the program, five by graduation and transfers, and three others were dismissed from the team for sexual assault allegations.

Lyle was expected to be the Ducks’ starting point guard for the upcoming season, and his absence leaves a huge hole in the backcourt that might not be able to be replaced with Oregon’s current roster. Right now, the Ducks only have ten players listed on their roster, leaving them thin at every position and with a serious need to avoid injuries.

With Lyle, I still had some optimism that Oregon could still make it back to the postseason. Without him, Oregon will be lucky to win half of their games.

That may be a slight exaggeration, but Joseph Young and Elgin Cook are the only players on Oregon’s roster who have proven they’re capable of playing big minutes in the Pac-12. On paper, Oregon is still better than Washington State, Oregon State, and maybe even USC and Arizona State, but that still puts them in the bottom half of the Pac-12.

Without Lyle, the Ducks will likely be forced to resort to a point guard by committee strategy. Other than Young, only Jalil Abdul-Bassit and Theo Friedman have college experience for the Ducks. Combined, last season, Abdul-Bassit and Friedman only averaged 2.4 points per game. That production will not be good enough next season. The Ducks also have true freshmen Casey Benson and Ahmaad Rorie to help in the backcourt; however, I expect their impact to be minimal.

And, just when it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse for the Ducks… .