Oregon received unfortunate but not surprising news yesterday as Anthony Bennett, one of the best basketball prospects in the nation, committed to UNLV. Bennett had previously narrowed his choices to UNLV and the Ducks. Oregon was thought to be behind UNLV the entire time, but had Bennett's friend and current Duck commit Dominic Artis advocating on their behalf, plus the fact that Eugene is basically Canada, Bennett's native country.
With Bennett out of the picture, the Ducks will now turn their sights to 6-8 PF Chris Obekpa of Our Savior New American in New York. Obekpa is a four star player and top 100 player nationally. Artis has also been recruiting Obekpa, who is rumored to make a visit to Oregon this week. Obekpa is also considering Providence, DePaul, and Cincinnati.
In football news, one top RB target, 4* Dontre Wilson, has pushed his announcement date back from May 25 so he can visit Ohio State. Should Oregon be concerned? Yes. Wilson had narrowed his choices to Oregon and Texas and was thought to be a heavy Oregon lean before Ohio State entered the picture. Urban Meyer is one of the most dogged and successful recruiters in the nation. Like Oregon, Ohio State plans to run an uptempo offense this season, which appeals to Wilson. Still, you have to respect a kid's choice to assess all of his options and assume that Oregon is still in the lead until hearing otherwise.
In other news Oregon coaches have been on the road and handing out more offers. This year perhaps more than any other the Ducks are seeing top recruits from around the country name Oregon as one of their top choices. Most recently, 4* cornerback L.J. Moore of Fresno named Oregon as among his top choices. In North Carolina, 4* TE Josh McNeil said getting an invite to Oregon was a "dream come true", while Peter Kalambayi, a 4* linebacker listed Oregon among his top 5. Finally, 5* defensive tackle Montravius Adams from Georgia recently indicated that he wanted to take an official visit to Oregon, as did 4* LB/DE Torrodney Prevot from Texas.
Oregon currently has two commits in OL Evan Voeller and RB Thomas Tyner.