Oregon Guard Maddie Scherr Enters Transfer Portal

Scherr became the fourth player to leave Graves and the Ducks this week.

Author:
Graham Metzker
Publish date:
Mar 29, 2022 12:43 PM EDT

Sophomore guard Maddie Scherr has entered the transfer portal and will leave Oregon. Scherr took to Twitter to thank the Oregon commmunity.

"I want to thank all of the Oregon fans for being so incredibly supportive during my time at Oregon. You all have made a girl from Kentucky feel like she was at a home away from home."

In what has turned into a devastating start to the week for Kelly Graves and the Ducks, Scherr is the fourth player to announce their departure from the team this week. First was Nyara Sabally declaring for the 2022 WNBA Draft, then Sydney Parrish and Kylee Watson announced their intentions to transfer.

Scherr’s departure also means that Te-Hina Paopao is the only 5-star recruit remaining from Oregon’s historic 2020 recruiting class that boasted five 5-stars.

An all-around player that brought hustle and intensity on both sides of the ball, Scherr and her energy will be sorely missed in Eugene. She led the Ducks in total minutes, assists and steals in the 2021-22 season. Scherr missed just one game out of 32 total games this season and started 28.

The departure of Scherr leaves a huge hole to fill. She makes the plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet, and her three-and-D play type is a necessity on any team. Another big concern is veteran leadership and bonding within the locker room, as the Ducks will need to welcome new players from the transfer portal to make up for the losses suffered this offseason – both this week and potentially in the future.

But Scherr’s departure provides a huge opportunity as well. Graves will look to returning players Ahlise Hurst and Taylor Bigby to fill into the third guard position in the starting lineup beside Paopao and Endyia Rogers.

Paopao and Rogers are both offensive forces and demand the ball a lot, while not being as strong on the defensive side. Oregon needs someone that can score without as many shot attempts and that can pick up the slack on the other side of the court. Hurst, who was second in both three-pointers made and steals last season, figures to slide into the starting five to start next season.

The Ducks will also look to their incoming freshmen after another impressive recruiting class, ranking behind just UCLA in the Pac-12 in 2022. Oregon will welcome the second-best point in the class and All-American Chance Gray to the backcourt, along with 4-star guard Jennah Isai.