Loyd happy with his decision
Johnathan Loyd liked coach Dana Altman throughout the recruiting process but he wasn't crazy about playing at Creighton or in the Missouri Valley Conference so it looked like the Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman point guard was headed in another direction.
Once Altman got the Oregon job, though, he got in contact with Loyd, who now wanted to listen because playing in the Pac-10 is big-time basketball and it had always been one of his favorite schools. Loyd has since committed to the Ducks and couldn't be more excited about how things have turned out.
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"Creighton had been recruiting me since about February and I liked the coaching staff and everything but I really didn't want to play in that conference," Loyd said.
"Then when they went to Oregon we talked the night he got the job and he said I should go to Oregon. That was one of the schools I wanted to go to since I was a freshman so that really sparked it.
"It's a cool place, I liked everything about it, I liked the players, it's not that far from home. It seemed like a perfect situation."
The 5-foot-9, 165-pound point guard can score, distribute the basketball, find open teammates and defend - a solid pickup for the Ducks who's excited about not only being able to stay closer to home but play in a more prestigious conference.
"It's big," Loyd said. "It's one of the best conferences in the country and I get a chance to play in it for four years."
What's even sweeter about the whole situation is that Loyd said it was totally unexpected. He had not been intensely following the Oregon coaching search which dragged on for weeks after Ernie Kent was let go and the Ducks went after some of the biggest names in the business.
Altman finally got the job but Loyd said he had to be told by a friend because he hadn't seen the news reports about it. Once the new staff got in contact with Loyd it just seemed like the right thing to do and so he decided Oregon was the place for him.
"It was shocking," Loyd said. "I didn't know anything about him getting it. My friend was the one who told me the day he got the job and he said the Creighton coach might be getting the Oregon job and I said I haven't talked to him in a long time. It worked out great."