The Oregon Ducks knew that the road may be a bit rocky as they endure the absence of point guard Jackson Shelstad, who broke his hand in early October and was looking at being sidelined for four-to-six weeks. The junior was a third-team All-Big Ten selection a season ago and has been the team’s primary offensive creator for much of his first two seasons in Eugene.
Unfortunately for the Ducks, Shelstad was still dealing with the injury when the season tipped off against Hawaii on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
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The belief was that 22-year-old guard Wei Lin, who joined the team in the months before the season, would be able to handle the starting point guard role during Shelstad’s recovery. After all, he’d averaged 21 points and 5.0 assists per game in the Chinese Basketball Association, having been named an All-Star in 2024 and 2025. Excitement was high for the former pro.
But after Game 1, it’s clear that Shelstad is needed much more than head coach Dana Altman or anyone who watched the game had previously thought.
The Ducks held a 50-36 lead with roughly ten minutes to go in the second half before completely unraveling, allowing the Rainbow Warriors to tie the game at 50 and eventually hold the lead in the final minute. It took a scramble situation with several offensive rebounds on Oregon’s final possession before transfer guard Takai Simpkins, who finished with a game-high 18 points in his Ducks debut, finished a contested layup at the rim for the game-winner in the final seconds, eking out a one-point season-opening victory in which Oregon was favored to win by double figures.
Lin started at point guard and was loose with the ball from the start. He committed three turnovers in the first ten minutes of play and was repeatedly unable to get the ball to Oregon’s star center Nate Bittle, who had just two made field goals at the half.
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“Obviously, he’s got to get us into some sets,” Altman said after the game, speaking on Lin’s debut. “He’s having a hard time. He’s only been here a month. He’s really having a hard time getting us into some sets. I think it affected him tonight when he missed shots, he started shaking his head and didn’t play real confident. … He’s got a long way to go.”
In all, Lin finished with two points on 0-for-7 shooting from the floor and 0-for-4 from three-point range with one assist and four turnovers. His only points were on a pair of free throws less than three minutes into the game. It was a struggle for the Chinese sensation, to say the least.
Several times, Altman yanked Lin from the game after a questionable decision with the ball. In his place came walk-on guard Drew Carter, a Tigard, Ore., native.
Carter began his collegiate career as a quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes’ football team (he saw action in six games in 2021) before transferring to play basketball at UC Davis during the 2023-24 season, where he appeared in nine games. He then transferred to Oregon and played in just four games a season ago.
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Now a senior, it was evident that Altman trusted Carter. He had an immensely positive impact on the game — yet it may not have looked like it, as he played 19 minutes, had just one assist and went 0-for-4 from the field. What the box score didn’t recognize, Altman did.
“I thought Drew handled the ball a little bit, got us some stability there,” he said. “Plus-minus, you always take it with a grain of salt. But he was plus-13. He had that good stretch in the first half where we finally got some ball movement. We didn’t turn it over and we scored on five or six possessions in that stretch just because we simply got the ball moving and got shot opportunities.”
On a night when Oregon turned the ball over a total of 21 times as a team, nearly double their per-game mark of 11.3 turnovers a season ago, Carter was the lone Duck to log minutes and not record a turnover — and, as Altman pointed out, had a game-high plus-minus of +13. Without Shelstad, Carter’s services will continue to be needed.
“We’re gonna have to (have Carter on the floor),” Altman said. “Just to get us through some sets. I think he understands what we’re trying to do. He could just run it and move the ball, just look for wide open shots, not try to force anything.”
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Altman offered an injury update on Shelstad after the game, saying that “everything looks good” and that he visited the doctor on Tuesday.
While there’s a possibility that the Ducks’ star point guard could return on Friday, Nov. 7, when they take on Rice at Matthew Knight Arena, a previous report presumably says otherwise. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported last week that Shelstad was expected back before the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, beginning on Nov. 24, but that Altman would like to get him back for at least one game prior to the trip.
After the matchup against Rice, Oregon will have two games before heading to Las Vegas: Nov. 12 against South Dakota State and Nov. 17 against Oregon State. Both games are at home.
If Shelstad is to miss either of the next three games, it may not look pretty for the Ducks. Yet, they showed resiliency in coming away with a close win in the season-opener. Lin should improve and become more comfortable. Simpkins will continue to attack downhill. Carter’s steadiness will be needed.
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At the end of the day, it was going to have to be pieced together in Shelstad’s absence anyways — it may just be a little more bumpy than previously expected.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon needs Jackson Shelstad despite one-point season-opening win
