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Four-star 2023 small forward Andrej Stojakovic has slowly been building to become a national recruit, and a recent performance at an event during the live period helped propel him to that level. The 6-foot-7 recruit from Jesuit HS in the Sacramento, California area is blowing up with new offers from Texas, Florida, Kansas, UConn and Tennessee within the last few days. He is the son of former NBA all star Peja Stojakovic, so the pedigree is there and now Oregon has jumped into the mix with an offer to the fast-rising junior. I watched Stojakovic last summer when he was more of an under-the-radar recruit, and he showed glimpses of being an elite-level player but he has now started to match his potential with production. There is still a long way to go in his recruitment, but getting some added exposure playing for the Compton Magic travel ball team has helped raise his profile overall. He'll be a name to watch as the process moves ahead.

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I also put the Flowe video in the thread with the story Gabriel wrote, but here is the full set:

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Rivals has updated its Rivals150 and position rankings for the 2023 class, and with Oregon already having three commits in the class there is a lot to pay attention to with the update. Point guard Jackson Shelstad has had a good summer and he was rewarded with another bump up in the rankings this week. He is now up to No. 62 on the list after moving up 16 spots in the previous rankings update. That came after he moved up 38 spots in the update last month. He was once rated as high as No. 59 on the list, and he is on his way to surpassing that with his play so far this year. Mookie Cook and Kwame Evans Jr. both dropped a bit in the latest update with Cook moving down to a four-star recruit. It is likely that he will end up moving back up by the time the final rankings move into view next year, but Rivals national recruiting director Rob Cassidy recently explained the decision behind the move down the list.

"Cook skipped the majority of the grassroots season in order to star as a young LeBron James in an upcoming biopic. When the five-star returned for a short stint in the EYBL, he looked understandably rusty. There’s no reason to panic, obviously, as Cook’s track record suggests he’ll be back to his old self by the time he starts his senior season at Arizona Compass prep."

Cook actually tops Rob's list of prospects with something to prove this season. Evans moved ahead of Cook in the small forward position rankings as the five-star wing now sits at No. 5 overall.

Oregon’s final regular season record 2022? What’s your guess/thoughts?

Schedule⬇️

This was the last practice with any viewing availability this week. Gabriel has the notes:

Hey all,

My original plan was to cover the game in Atlanta. I was going to stay in my South Carolina house the travel down for the game and take a full vacation. At the same time we sold the house, a separate trip I was supposed to go on had to get 'redirected' a bit.

The backstory: While I was in the Marine Corps, in 29 Palms we met a girl (Katie) about our age whose dad was a gunnery sergeant (E7 for those that do not know the Marine rank structure). He was not in our unit, but he considered his duty to go beyond his particular unit and welcomed young Marines into his home to help guide and mentor them. I was one of the young Marines his family took in as their own. They were 'mom and dad' and their daughters (they had four) were our sisters.

A side note, if anyone remembers the story of the Kansas City pharmacist (Robert Courtney) who gave diluted cancer medications in Kansas City - Dad was one of the victims.

Over the years we stayed in touch and have seen each other at separate times, but have not all been together in the same room since 1987. Last fall, we started planning a road trip with two of my Marine Corps buddies and the whole family meeting up for a RV trip to Yellowstone. Victor - who I went to MOS school with and roomed with my the entire time we were in 29 Palms - retired from the military in 2019 (he was a command sergeant major in Army reserve by that point) and was set to retire from Homeland Security this year (which he did about a month ago). The trip was going to be epic. But earlier this year, one of the sisters was diagnosed with breast cancer (has had a double mastectomy and chemo in this time frame), another was diagnosed with a heart ailment, Katie had major hip and back surgery and our youngest sister went through a very painful divorce after 20+ years. Needless to say, this kind of stopped our RV trip.

So I worked with my buddies and we arranged to all fly into Kansas City (except Victor who is in his RV traveling the nation, so he is driving in) and spend the week with the family. I was going to make it overlap with the game in Atlanta - but that did not really work with anyone else's schedule, so I will not be going to the game. I leave tomorrow and come back next Tuesday. I will still have all of my columns up between now and then, but probably will not be on the boards much. Will definitely look to post some pics when I get a chance!

Just finished talking to one of his QB trainers down here. Bo has been down to Mobile/Birmingham working with QB Country during the Summer. The guy running the Bham area is one of my good friends from high school.

He already knew I was gonna get in his grill about the Ducks new QB, so he gave me some reinforced thoughts on our new QB. Said he's a completely different guy since getting out of Auburn, and since getting married. He's matured, he's calmed his feet, his mechanics were precision throughout the workouts, but also said mechanics were never in question. He just needed to find the right fit, which was never the case in Auburn. The game has slowed down for him. He loves Eugene. It's been a great change of pace for him. His family is really thrilled with the entire move.

They worked heavily on his throws downfield. I guess that's what the coaches asked of him because there is going to be a steady stream of pushing the ball-which I was really happy to hear. Also said that Nix was "lit" about the talent he has around him, and that its the best OL/receiver group he's ever had(not anything we didn't know already).

Recruiting update with Sam M'Pemba on Rivals:

sabrina-ionescu-becomes-1st-wnba-player-with-500-pts-200-reb-200-ast-in-1-season

Might recognize this guy

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FIRST TEAM

Offense

Quarterback -- Bryce Young, junior, Alabama

Running backs -- Bijan Robinson, junior, Texas; TreVeyon Henderson, sophomore, Ohio State.

Tackles -- Peter Skoronski, junior, Northwestern; Paris Johnson Jr., junior, Ohio State.

Guards -- Andrew Vorhees, sixth-year, Southern California; Caleb Chandler, sixth-year, Louisville.

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Center -- Jarrett Patterson, senior, Notre Dame.

Tight end -- Brock Bowers, sophomore, Georgia.

Wide receivers -- Jordan Addison, junior, Southern California; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, junior, Ohio State; Kayshon Boutte, junior, LSU.

All-purpose player -- Deuce Vaughn, junior, Kansas State.

Kicker -- Jake Moody, senior, Michigan.

Defense

Edge rushers -- Will McDonald IV, senior, Iowa State; Isaiah Foskey, senior, Notre Dame.

Linemen -- Bryan Bresee, junior, Clemson; Jalen Carter, junior, Georgia.

Linebackers -- Will Anderson Jr., junior, Alabama; Noah Sewell, junior, Oregon; Jack Campbell, senior, Iowa.

Cornerbacks -- Kelee Ringo, sophomore, Georgia; Eli Ricks, junior, Alabama.

Safeties -- Jordan Battle, junior, Alabama; Antonio Johnson, junior, Texas A&M.


SECOND TEAM

Offense

Quarterback – C.J. Stroud, junior, Ohio State.

Running backs -- Braelon Allen, sophomore, Wisconsin; Sean Tucker, junior, Syracuse.

Tackles -- Connor Galvin, senior, Baylor; Dawand Jones, senior, Ohio State.

Guards -- O’Cyrus Torrence, senior, Florida; Emil Ekiyor, senior, Alabama.

Center -- John Michael Schmitz, sixth-year, Minnesota.

Tight end -- Michael Mayer, junior, Notre Dame.

Wide receivers -- Xavier Worthy, sophomore, Texas; Josh Downs, junior, North Carolina; A.T. Perry, senior, Wake Forest.

All-purpose player -- Jahmyr Gibbs, junior, Alabama

Kicker -- Harrison Mevis, junior, Missouri

Defense

Edge rushers -- Myles Murphy, junior, Clemson; Nolan Smith, senior, Georgia.

Linemen -- Calijah Kancey, junior, Pittsburgh; Siaki Ika, junior, Baylor.

Linebackers -- Nick Herbig, junior, Wisconsin; Andre Carter II, senior, Army; Edefuan Ulofoshio, senior, Washington.

Cornerbacks -- Cam Smith, junior, South Carolina; Clark Phillips III, junior, Utah.

Safeties -- Brandon Joseph, junior, Notre Dame; Jalen Catalon, junior, Arkansas.

Defensive back -- Jammie Robinson, senior, Florida State.

Punter -- Kyle Ostendorp, junior, Arizona.

bad news was an injury this weekend, good news is that it wasn't serious

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Some of the latest on many top prospects mainly in the 2024 class:

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What's good, everybody!

It does not appear as though Oregon will be done in the state of Mississippi any time soon as I'm hearing the Ducks are the team to beat for recent Utah decommit, Vicksburg (Miss.) four-star defensive tackle Caleb Bryant. At this point, there is no timeline for a possible recommitment, but I would expect this one to be wrapped up soon.

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What's good, everybody!

In this edition of Nick at Nite, I mentioned the swarming buzz around 2024 prospects in Texas and Oregon. Just something to file away as time goes on.

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Myles Jackson is already becoming a priority quarterback target for many programs across the country, but Oregon is one school that has consistently come up in his recruitment. He has built a strong connection with Kenny Dillingham already, and that has been important in helping him evaluate the Ducks as an option. Jackson threw for over 500 yards this week plus he accounted for seven touchdowns in his team's season opener. Jackson plays at Long Beach-Millikan HS in in California and that is the home of a couple other priority Oregon targets, Rivals100 athletes Ryan Pellum and Jordan Anderson. There are a bunch of Pac-12 schools in the mix for Jackson already, and I caught up with him after his game to talk about the process at this stage.

Specific to Oregon, I asked him about his relationship with Dillingham plus what it means to him that the Ducks already have a commitment from a five-star quarterback in the 2023 class. He was open about all of it, and it helped provide some insight into his thought process. He's looking to make an early decision (likely after his season is over), so in-season visits will play a big part in helping him eventually make his choice.

👀

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Gabriel's story:


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