Oregon transfer shooting guard Kario Oquendo commits to SMU

Oregon transfer shooting guard Kario Oquendo has officially committed to the SMU Mustangs, he announced. On3’s Billy Embody also relayed the news. Oquendo averaged 7.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this year for the Ducks, shooting 45.9 percent from the field. He saw a pretty substantial dip in his production from his previous two seasons with Georgia, thanks to not seeing as many minutes.

Oregon had a very good season this year, finishing with a 24-12 overall record and advancing to the Round of 32 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Ducks made an impressive run to the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament Championship, defeating the Colorado Buffaloes 75-68 in the final. Oregon was carried by big man, N’Faly Dante, who stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points and nine rebounds. The Ducks won their first Pac-12 Tournament Championship since 2019 and the sixth in program history.

Kario Oquendo becomes one of the first portal pickups for their new head coach, Andy Enfield. The Mustangs are set to begin their first year in their new conference in the 2024-2025 campaign, the ACC. SMU had a pretty decent season this year, finishing with a 20-13 overall record, including an 11-7 record in the AAC. The Mustangs lost in the first round of the 2024 NIT Tournament to the Indiana State Sycamores and Robbie Avila, 101-92. Indiana State would go on to lose in the NIT Tournament Championship game to Seton Hall, 79-77.

Oquendo spent two seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs before transferring to Oregon. With the Bulldogs, he showcased his explosive ability as a scorer, averaging 14.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per outing. The 6-foot-4 guard started 59 of 60 games there, tallying 14 20-point outings and 43 double-digit scoring performances. Oquendo erupted for a career-high 33 points against Texas A&M, drilling six three-pointers.

As a sophomore with Georgia in 2021-2022, Oquendo averaged 18.3 points per game in SEC play, ranking seventh in the conference with a 45.3 field goal percentage.

He originally began his career at Florida Southwestern, racking up 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 22.2 minutes per game. Once again showing his explosive ability as a shooter, Oquendo shot 55.4 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from long range, earning first team All-Southern Conference honors.

According to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2020 cycle, he was rated as the No. 168 overall player in that class and a three-star prospect.