Oregon enters the 2025-2026 men’s college basketball season unranked, but the Ducks have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons and have two of the top players in the Big Ten back for 2025-26.
Forward Nate Bittle made the conference’s all-defensive team and averaged 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game last season. He shot 51.1% from the field and 81.1% from the free throw line, and his 74 blocked shots led the Big Ten.
Guard Jackson Shelstad joins Bittle on the preseason all-Big Ten team, though he could open this season unable to play due to a broken right hand suffered in practice around the beginning of October. Any absence should be short, however.
Shelstad started all 35 games for the Ducks in 2024-2025, averaging 13.7 points in a team-leading 32.9 minutes per game. The guard is typically the one with the ball in his hands down the stretch in close games.
Head coach Dana Altman will once again count on the contributions from transfers and newcomers. A few to watch are Takai Simpkins (Elon), Sean Stewart (Duke) and Wei Lin (Chinese Basketball Association).
“Wei will get an opportunity to see what he can do,” Altman said of the point guard spot without Shelstad. “(It will) be kind of by committee.”
The Ducks open the season at home in Eugene, Ore., against Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors went 15-16 last season but are picked to finish third in the Big West in 2025-26, according to the conference’s preseason poll.
Gytis Nemeiksa was granted a waiver for another year of eligibility from the NCAA, and the 6-foot-8 forward from Lithuania who led the team in scoring last season, averaging 12.3 points per game, is back in Honolulu.
Hawaii landed several players in the transfer portal to retool the roster from last season.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces … four returners, which isn’t a lot, but they’ve gotten better,” Hawaii head coach Eran Ganot recently told KHON-TV. “There’s an excitement to the new and the unknown as we get to know this team.”
