Dom Artis' lost season

There was that legal trouble to start off and then Dom Artis and actually Oregon basketball as a whole never seemed to get fully untracked.

Skeptics certainly have the ammunition to counter the team description above considering the Ducks finished 24-10 and made it to the Round of 32 in the Big Dance (losing to Final Four participant Wisconsin 85-77) but it just wasn't Oregon hoops of previous team synchronicity. Additionally, 10-8 in league play isn't material for any bragging rights.

Backcourters of note Jason Calliste and point Johnathan Lloyd have now completed their eligibility. 6-foot-2 Joseph Young will come back for his final season alongside 6-foot-5 junior Damyean Dotson, with both being shooting guards, but the point looks wide open for Artis in 2014-15.

His numbers for the recently completed season: 25 games, six starts, 17 minutes a contest, 4.1 points and 2.2 assists a night with 34%, 26% and 67% shooting respectively. He pilfered 20 steals.

Artis' freshman go-around brought him deserved notice: 28 games, 25 starts, 24 minutes a contest, 8.5 points and  3.2 assists a night, shooting 37%, 36% and 68% respectively. Plus, he added a second-on-the-team 43 steals. He displayed savviness beyond his youth.

Who knows the why of what went wrong vis-a-vis Artis' numbers going south. But the valid expectation is that 2014-15 will see his re-emergence.