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Report: Oregon center N'Faly Dante will return for Ducks' showdown with Cal

Jarrid Denneyby:Jarrid Denney•01/13/24•

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(Soobum Im / Getty Images)

After missing more than two months due to injury, Oregon all-conference center N’Faly Dante is set to make a healthy return.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that Dante, who led the Ducks in scoring and rebounds last season, will suit up for Saturday’s showdown with Cal (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Dante has not played since Oregon’s season-opening win over Georgia on Nov. 6, when he racked up 16 points and 21 rebounds.

But the 6-foot-11 senior suffered an injury during that game and underwent knee surgery in late November.

Dante returned to practice earlier this week and participated in a live, five-on-five drill.

“He’s kept himself in good shape,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said of Dante on Tuesday. “We have underwater treadmills. We have things where we can pressure off — we’re fortunate for those facilities. So, he’s not in great shape by any means. But he’s not totally out of shape. He’s watched what he ate a little bit and did some things. The seven minutes he played today were really good.”

Dante was named to the preseason Wooden Award watch list this fall. During the 2022-23 campaign, he averaged 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds and was a first-team all-conference selection.

The Ducks have also been without starting big man Nate Bittle, who suffered a broken wrist during the their Nov. 18 win over Tennessee State. Standout freshmen Jackson Shelstad and Mookie Cook have also missed signficant time, and starting guard Jesse Zarzuela is out for the season.

Even still, Oregon is 12-3 on the season and 4-0 in Pac-12 play.

“You try not to think ahead and you try not to get pessimistic,” Altman said when asked how Oregon has managed to find success despite the flurry of injuries it has faced. “You’ve gotta be real, though. We were small and (Mo Diawara) hadn’t played much. I didn’t know what we had there. I thought he did a good job; (Kwme Evans Jr.) has come along and I didn’t know know if that would happen. … To be real honest, I didn’t know what was gonna happen.”

“We just came to practice every day with six, seven, eight guys or whatever we had on scholarship. Fortunately (walk-on forward James Cooper) has been good and (walk-on guard Gabe Reichle) has been unbelievable. Our walk-ons have done a tremendous job giving us something to look at every day.”

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