Armstead is the teammate of Oregon recruit Jeremy Jacob, a forward for the Indians of Marianna, Fla. Armstead averaged 6.8 points, 4.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game, shooting 41-of-79 on 3-pointers (52 percent)

Armstead, 6-feet and 195 pounds, finished with an assist-to-turnover rate of  3.3 per game. 

Armstead finished his freshman year at Chipola, and will have three years of eligibility remaining. 

“The thing that impressed me the most about Malcolm was his contagious passion for the game of basketball and his understanding for the point guard position,” Kent said in a media release. “That passion is going to make everybody around him better.”

More from the release by Oregon Media Services’ Chris Geraghty.

Chipola finished third at the 2009 National Junior College Athletic Association Men’s National Basketball Championship in Hutchinson, Kan.

The Indians, who ended the regular-season as the top-ranked team in the NJCAA Top 25 Poll, defeated Conners State College, 102-70, in the consolation game of the national tournament. Chipola lost a 78-73 semifinal contest to Salt Lake Community College, a team that would go on to defeat Midland in the title game.

Chipola had a 32 game winning-streak before falling to Salt Lake CC. The only other loss came early in the season to Three Rivers College (78-71).

Oregon has signed a total of four players to NLIs for the upcoming season. In addition to the Chipola College signees, the Ducks have also added prep standouts Jamil Wilson (Racine, Wis.) and E.J. Singler (Medford, Ore.).

“This is a very good recruiting class. Individuals in this group will be counted on to make an immediate impact on our basketball program,” Kent said.

      Facing the possibility of splitting playing time three ways for another season, Kamyron Brown chose to transfer from the UO men’s basketball program while the program went looking for another point guard.

            That point guard, junior college player Malcolm Armstead from Chipola Community College in Florida — where he is a teammate of signed UO recruit Jeremy Jacob — has not sent Oregon a letter of intent officially, a UO sports information official said, but he is well-known to be a target of Oregon’s.

            If Brown had stayed and Armstead signed, Oregon would have been one scholarship over the 13-scholarship limit. Instead, Brown, a sophomore who played in 61 career games averaging 4.4 points per game, exits Eugene after the conclusion of the spring trimester with “no bitternes on my part” and looking for a program where he can be the featured guard, he said Monday night on a conference call.

            He called the decision, which he informed head coach Ernie Kent of Saturday when they met to talk about the situation for the first time, “like a business approach.” 

            Brown has two years of eligibility remaining. 

            “You’ve got to see what the team needs to grow. If they needed another point guard, they needed another point guard,” Brown, an Anaheim, Calif., native. “He’s a junior college player, so I guess they’re going out and looking for experience.

            “I look at like a positive both ways.”

            Brown talked with his family over the decision, which he said he began to consider after the season ended. Transferring “wasn’t a thought at all to me last year,” he said.

            Announced in a brief media release Sunday afternoon, Ernie Kent could not be reached for additional comments Monday.

            “I sat down with Kamyron and we both agreed the best situation for him to continue his growth as a player would be in another basketball program,” Kent said in the release. “Kamyron will be allowed to continue working with our players, coaches and support staff through the end of the school year.”

            The coaches will also help Brown find a new school, but he hasn’t contacted prospective schools yet, he said.

            The problem at Oregon was simply minutes, Brown said. Oregon’s up-tempo style “was a great fit for me” he said, but started only 13 times in his career, averaging 17.6 minutes per game.

            Even if the Ducks weren’t recruiting Armstead, Brown said he likely would still have transferred.

“If they didn’t recruit him, there would possibly be a chance of me staying, but I still needed somewhere where I could get a majority of the minutes and not split it three ways or four ways,” he said.  “I never really had a problem with any of the coaches. They made me a better person.”

            Brown said he did not contact Drew Viney, a childhood friend of Brown’s who transferred to Loyola Marymount after one season with Oregon last year, until after he completed his decision. 

The punishment came from Oregon head basketball coach Ernie Kent, and the athletic department approached Greenhill Humane Society, its executive director said. Any punishment from the court will come when the players appear at Eugene Municipal Court on April 17. 

The players, all 19 years old and who finished their freshman season in March, began working at Greenhill last Friday, according to Greenhill Executive Director Cary Lieberman, who says the three will also attend a Humane Education class. The players are expected to be working every Friday at the humane society.

“We’re having them do our normal community service routine, which is primarily kennel cleaning, cattery cleaning and yard maintenance,” Lieberman said.

Greenhill was chosen because of its “focus on respect and compassion for animals” said a release from the Oregon athletic department.

Although Greenhill frequently accepts volunteers who are court-appointed, the humane society does not usually accept volunteer workers who have been charged with violence against animals or humans, Lieberman said, because its primary mission is to find homes for animals.

“It’s a little unique for us,” Lieberman said. “We think it’s a great opportunity to reach some people that have shown some violence against animals, and who are also clearly very apologetic and very understanding.”

Police reports indicate no ducks or geese were injured by the shots. 

“I think it is paramount that our players understand the significance of caring for animals, and how important that is to our community,” Kent said. “The coach in me hopes that we will never have a situation like this again. The parent in me hopes our players have learned a valuable lesson.”

In his two years with the Denver Nuggets and last season with Arizona, he made a believer out of interim head UA coach Russ Pennell, who got the interim job when Dunlap turned it down in October, dismayed it wouldn’t be a full-time job, he told the New York Times on March 25.

Here, then, was the conversation with Pennell tonight about Dunlap.

He came to athletic director Pat Kilkenny with a plan to shake up his assistants, which he did today, not renewing the contract of longtime assistant Mark Hudson, with him since 1997. 

In his place comes Mike Dunlap, a two-time DII national title-winning coach at Denver’s Metro State and an assistant last season at Arizona.

The three, Cedric Josh Crittle, Michael Dunigan and Teondre Williams, all 19, will appear in Eugene Municipal Court on April 14 for the misdemeanor charges. 

“As far was we’re concerned, the investigation is over,” police spokeswoman Jenna LaBounty said. 

A report of illegal hunting came in to the police at 11:08 p.m. Monday night and when six officers arrived to the park soon after they found Crittle shooting 20 BBs toward the pond. 

One officer’s police report said Dunigan threw his BB gun into the pond as officers arrived, where the weapon was recovered. A third BB gun was found, but the report was unclear as to where it was discovered.

It is unknown whether any ducks or geese were injured. 

A statement from Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said, ““This incident is a very serious matter. Although these three young men realize that it was a foolish mistake on their part, there are still consequences that they will have to face. We are still in the information gathering process.”

Earlier, Tuesday, the Oregon athletic department released a statement saying, “The University of Oregon Athletic Department is cooperating with law enforcement and investigating the charges levied against three varsity men’s basketball players. There will be no further comment until more details are available.”

LaBounty said it is “relatively uncommon” to have reports of people firing weapons in Alton Baker Park.

“It’s not something unheard of and in the various parks in Eugene you’ll get reports of this,” LaBounty said. 

— Andrew Greif

New basketball uniforms to be unveiled during the Pac-10 Tourney

Got a press release today from Nike talking about the new basketball uniforms Oregon will wear at the Pacific-10 Conference men’s basketball tournament tomorrow. 

Duke University, Gonzaga University, The University of Memphis, Michigan State University and the University of Oregon were the lucky five schools to use the new “combat” line. The press release details it more…

University of Oregon: Grid pattern detail throughout represents the trusses in the roof on U of O’s Mac Court while the beams of the roof run vertically.  The iconic Oregon “O” is the design’s centerpiece.  

We’ll see how long Oregon gets to play in those uniforms tomorrow night against Washington State at 8:30 p.m. — it could be a one and done.

Voogd received little playing time, and left the Oregon team this year the day after Oregon’s loss to USC in early January. It’s Voogd’s third college in four years, after playing for Louisiana State for two seasons. 

The Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team announces that Ben Voogd, former Division I athlete at Louisiana State and the University of Oregon, has signed a Letter of Intent to play basketball with the Beacons for the 2009-2010 season.

Voogd has one year of eligibility remaining at the NAIA level and has chosen NCU to close out his collegiate playing career. Voogd was a scholarshiped member of the University of Oregon squad earlier this season and was a red-shirt with the Ducks last year in accordance with NCAA transfer rules. He played his first two seasons at LSU where he was a member of the Tigers’ 2006 Final Four team.

“I wanted to go somewhere that I knew I could play,” said Voogd. “This is a place where I already know a lot of the players from growing up in the area and I have known most of the coaching staff for a while as well. I’ll be able to play my style of basketball here under a coaching staff that has been here for a long time and understands the game and will give me the opportunity to play.”

Everybody’s warming up for Oregon today. Wiley, Longmire and Odia have been expected to be back for today’s game after concussions last week, and Teondre Williams may play after an eye infection and academic issues this week kept him out of Thursday’s loss.

OK, gametime, stay tuned blogosphere.

First possession says a lot about Oregon’s season: Ducks dribble it down to about 8 seconds on the shot clock, then give it to Tajuan Porter, who goes 1-on-3 before forcing an air-ball on the clock. They’ve done a similar strategy all season, but usually can’t rebound the ball when they miss. Long possessions that come up empty are usually turned into points on the other end for opposing teams.

Ducks up 4-0 with 18 left off two Dunigan free throws and a nifty reverse by LeKendric Longmire. Stanford responds on a basket by Lawrence Hill inside.

After Catron makes a jumper to put UO up 6-2, he tries a 3 the next possession — and misses. Not quite a shooter yet. 

Meanwhile, Landry Fields drills a 3 to pull to 6-5 with 15 left.

Timeout on the floor with 15:13 left in the first half: Oregon still playing with a lot of emotion, like they always do. That’s never been the problem this year. What has been is carrying it into the second half. EUGENE CELEBRITY ALERT: Pat Kilkenny is in the house. Shouldn’t he still be in the Bay Area with baseball?

10-8 with 13:48 left on a basketball by Lawrence Hill + a free throw. Catron commits the foul, his second, so he goes to the bench. A whole crew of subs is in, only TP stays: Wiley, Humphrey, Brown, Crittle are in.

Crittle ties it on a nice turnaround post move, and Stanford moves the ball around the perimeter before getting it in the hands of Fields, who banks in a tough 19-footer to make it 12-10 Stanford. Oregon gets bailed out on a foul called on Mitch Johnson on a shooting Crittle on next possession after a bunch of missed opportunities.

11-12 Stanford, Crittle makes 1 of 2.

Oregon goes empty, and Anthony Goods of Stanford comes down and hits a 3 to put Stanford up 11-15 with 11 minutes left. Kamyron Brown misses 3, Crittle gets offensive board and Wiley hits the three from the right corner to make it 14-15 with 10:45 left.

Mitch Johnson answers, gets his own three from the left corner to quiet Mac Court. When Oregon brings the ball on next possession, Crittle gets an offensive foul called on him. Small mistakes like this can snowball on this team.

You reach, I teach: Lawrence Hill hits a 15-footer after Dunigan anticipated the pass and missed it, leaving him out near midcourt. 14-19 Stan.

Offensive foul on Dunigan, when he bumps into a Cardinal after getting a backdoor pass from Humphrey. “What game are you watching?” yells a fan behind us. One that is 14-21 Stanford, maybe? TV timeout with 7:43 remaining, same score.

Crittle has been a man on a mission on the offensive glass, grabbing his third offensive board so far, and he goes to the line after being fouled on the putback effort. Makes the first, and the second. 16-21 Stan. with 7:12 left.

Two free throws by Goods are, uh, good. 16-23 Stan. 5:24 to play. 

LeKendric answers with a runner in the lane to bring it to within five.

Catron air-balls a three-pointer from the corner, and LeKendric grabs the board and is fouled on his way up for the shot. 1-and-1 from the line here.

LeKendric makes both, within three now with 4;36 left.

Hand it to the Ducks: They’ve been great on the glass today, rebounding much better than on Thursday night, and they’re not dribbling the clock down to the last seconds of the shot clock only to jack up a three. Looks like they’re learning from the mistakes of the past 14 games. 

TV timeout here and 20-23 Stanford with 3:58 left.

Dunigan cleans up a Longmire missed layup with a tip in at the rim with the left hand. Pretty play by the big guy. Down by one, and TP goes baseline, changes his shot in the air and sinks the lay-in. 24-23 Oregon. 

Mac Court is jumping. Students are on their feet, and an offensive foul on Anthony Goods (push-off on Tajuan at the top of the key) has it even louder.

Dunigan got fouled on a dunk attempt on a lob (wouldn’t the roof have gone off then?) and makes one of his two free throws. 25-23 Oregon. Watch out Duck fans, this is the danger zone: Lawrence Hill banks in a two, and Oregon misses near the rim. Anthony Goods comes down and makes the three to put the Cardinal back up 28-25 with 1:48.

Both teams miss shots, s it’s back to Oregon. Wiley hits Dunigan inside, makes the layup. Oregon back up by one, under a minute. TP gets the rebound and Wiley misses a transition layup under pressure.

21 seconds left, Oregon gets last possession with shot clock off. What do they do but give it to TP, who throws up a wild righthanded shot that clanks. Mitch Johnson misses a buzzer-beating jumper from 18 feet before halftime hits. 

It’s 29-28 here at Mac, and Oregon — yes OREGON — leads.

Can the Ducks get win No. 1 in the Pac-10 today, on a day Oregon State swept the Bay Area schools for the season?