Oregon Ducks Jackson Shelstad: Best College Basketball Player In Country Watch List

The Naismith Trophy is given to the best college basketball player in the country and the Oregon Ducks point guard is one of the 50 names listed to watch for. Oregon coach Dana Altman and sophomore Jackson Shelstad open up their season on Monday, Nov. 4 against UC Riverside at Matthew Knight Arena.

Mar 21, 2024; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Jackson Shelstad (3) shoots the ball against South Carolina Gamecocks forward Collin Murray-Boyles (30) during the first half in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Oregon Ducks Jackson Shelstad for some odd reason wasn't named to the Bob Cousy Award preseason watch list which is given to the best point guard in the college basketball. Regardless, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame then decided to choose the sophomore as a preseason candidate for the National Player of the Year award.

Given all this national recognition, Oregon coach Dana Altman expects even more from his offensive leader at just the ripe age of 19-years-old.

"I am going to have to ask a lot more out of him... His assist-to-turnover ratio has to take a step this year... Being aggressive, but being smart at the same time."

- Dana Altman on Jackson Shelstad

Mar 23, 2024; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Jackson Shelstad (3) drives to the basket against Creighton Bluejays guard Steven Ashworth (1) and forward Mason Miller (13) during the first half in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Shelstad has pressure to make a massive leap from Year One to Year Two for the Ducks. This past season, the 6’0 lead guard averaged 12.8 points per game on a shooting split of 45.5 field goal percentage, a mere 34.5 three-point percentage but an 85.7 percentage from the charity stripe. To go along with that, he put together 2.8 assists per game and 2.8 rebounds per game.

"That jump from freshman to sophomore, that's usually as a coach the biggest jump you see because they have a good feel for what it takes, they go and work on their game in the offseason wanting to get bigger, stronger, ready for a more physical game. He's got his work cut out for him. There's a lot of good guards in the Big Ten."

- Dana Altman on Jackson Shelstad

The shift creator has a variety of scoring options with his pull-up touch, playmaking going downhill and a floater that seems to softly touch the rim each time. Shelstad should be the leading scorer for this season's version of the Ducks.

The West Linn product scored an unbelievable 71 points in the Portland Pro-Am this past summer. Another former Oregon point guard in the Boston Celtics Payton Pritchard also went off in the same Pro-Am back in 2021 for an astonishing 92 points. Altman has been truly blessed to coach two individual threats like those in such a short span of each other and from the exact same area of the Pacific Northwest.

Shelstad and the rest of his Oregon teammates, coaching staff open up their 2024-25 campaign on Monday, Nov. 4 against UC Riverside at Matthew Knight Arena. The first Big Ten Conference opportunity for the Ducks will be on the road in Inglewood against the USC Trojans on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

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