Oregon Basketball Heating up on the Recruiting Trail

Dana Altman got off to a hot start in 2022 with Dior Johnson. What's next?

Author:
Tyler Mumm
Publish date:
Jul 12, 2021 11:32 AM EDT

Following a busy month of June visits, there has been a seemingly never ending-stream of recruiting news for nearly every team in the country. And, while basketball recruiting hasn’t been nearly as wild as football recruiting for Oregon, there’s still been plenty of recent movement along the recruiting trail on the basketball side of things.

Dior Johnson recently committed to the Ducks which stole all the headlines (and rightfully so), but there’s been plenty of recent visitors, list trimmings and other substantial recruiting news for Oregon.

Dana Altman and the rest of the staff have honed in on some priorities in the class of 2022, and have hosted a couple of those priorities for official visits. Ramel Lloyd Jr., a 4-star small forward, visited Oregon back on June 5. Following his visit, he told Ducks Digest that Oregon had been one of the schools prioritizing him the most along with Arkansas, Georgetown, and Nebraska.

Lloyd has since visited Arkansas, Georgetown, and Nebraska and also started a visit to Oklahoma on June 29. He was originally scheduled to make his college decision on June 27, but postponed his commitment date.

Lloyd is a 6-foot-6 wing out of Sierra Canyon high school in California. He’s skilled, versatile, and can play on or off the ball. He looks to be one of the top priorities in the class of 2022 for Oregon, and the Ducks figure to be one of the finalists for Lloyd.

Another top target, Zion Cruz, reportedly took an official visit to Oregon back on June 13. Cruz is a 5-star combo guard, who’s ranked as the No. 20 overall player in the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

He’s a high level scorer that can really score in bunches with a combination of shooting range, athleticism, and crafty finishing.

Cruz also visited Auburn on June 4, and the Tigers are seen as the potential front runners for Cruz, but Oregon can’t be counted out in this one either.

Meanwhile, 4-star power forward Colin Smith recently included Oregon in his list of the ten schools he’s still considering. Smith is a skilled stretch four out of Compass Prep in Arizona. He’s considered one of the top prospects in the state of Arizona.

With Dior Johnson already committed, the Ducks' 2022 recruiting class is shaping up to be really solid. Altman and the rest of the staff have identified some top targets, and have managed to get those prospects out to Eugene for official visits.

The idea of teaming up with Johnson obviously has to have some intrigue for prospects as Johnson is an excellent distributor, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if Oregon stays hot on the recruiting trail.

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