Oregon Basketball's N'Faly Dante Goes Undrafted, Signs with Houston Rockets

The NBA dream for Oregon Basketball's N'Faly Dante is still alive as the Duck center has signed a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets to play for their G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Kaleb Henry | Jun 30, 2024

Mar 21, 2024; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Oregon Ducks center N'Faly Dante (1) celebrates after a play during the second half of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

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The NBA dream is still alive for Oregon Basketball's N'Faly Dante.

Dante went unselected in the 2024 NBA Draft this week. However, he did pick up a two-way contract from the Houston Rockets in the hours following the draft.

The Duck center was a two-time member of the All-Pac-12 First Team, earning Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors as a senior. In his final season in Eugene, Dante averaged 17 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

But after Oregon lost in the NCAA Tournament, Dante had expectations of returning to Eugene. Those expectations were extinguished when the NCAA denied his request for an additional year of eligibility due to an ACL injury in the 2020-21 season. An appeal was also denied.

"I think it's time for me to go be great," Dante told Oregon SI's Olivia Cleary at the time.

Oregon Ducks center N'Faly Dante dunks the ball against Creighton Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner.

Mar 23, 2024; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Oregon Ducks center N'Faly Dante (1) dunks the ball against Creighton Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Now, Dante will see what he can in the NBA Summer League. NBA teams primarily use younger players from their rosters and G League affiliated players for the games. The NBA Summer League runs July 12-22 in Las Vegas.

Once the season rolls around, Dante will play for Houston's G League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Vipers were sixth in the Western Conference last season, led by former Texas Tech Red Raider Jarrett Culver who averaged 20.9 points a game. As for rebounding, the Vipers had a pair of players average more than seven boards a game: Jermaine Samuels Jr. (Villanova) and Nate Hinton (Houston).

Elsewhere at the NBA Draft for Dante's Rockets, the team took Reed Sheppard out of Kentucky at No. 3 overall. That was the only pick for the Rockets, who traded the No. 44 overall pick to the Atlanta Hawks for AJ Griffin.

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Published Jun 28, 2024|Modified Jun 30, 2024

KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans.He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team.