Oregon center N'Faly Dante announces he will return for 2022-23 season
Oregon’s starting big-man is officially back.
N’Faly Dante, Oregon’s junior center who started 27 games last season, announced on Twitter Monday morning that he will return to Eugene next season.
After suffering a season-ending knee injury early in his sophomore season, Dante returned for the Ducks last year and become one of their more pivotal players late in the season.
In 32 games, he averaged 8.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in just 20 minutes per game. Dante also shot 67.5 percent from the field and 1.03 blocks per game.
Dante did not make his season debut until the Ducks’ Nov. 16 matchup with BYU, and did not reenter the starting lineup until Nov. as he was on a minutes restriction while recovering from his knee injury.
Throughout the year, Dante tallied four double-doubles and was a key contributor in some of Oregon’s biggest games of the season. He scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards in each of the Ducks’ wins at USC and UCLA in January when both teams were ranked inside the national top five.
A former 5-star signee who was the No. 14 overall player in the class of 2020, Dante figures to solidify an Oregon frontcourt that will look quite different next season.
Backup big-man Franck Kepnang entered the transfer portal in March and has since committed to Washington. Reserve center Isaac Johnson also entered the portal and has since committed to Southern Utah.
The Ducks have signed 5-star big-man Kel’el Ware, On3’s No. 1 center in the nation and the No. 6 player overall in the class of 2022. Former 5-star big-man Nate Bittle is also set to return next season.
At this point, the only players Oregon are awaiting word on are starting point guard Will Richardson and starting forward Quincy Guerrier, both of whom have filed for early entry to the 2022 NBA Draft.
Both player have until June 1 to remove their name from the Draft and return to school.
