Oddly enough, I live in Eugene, but I very loosely follow the Ducks Basketball team. I completely forgot about Boucher signing with Oregon until yesterday, when I read in the paper about his eligibility.
Tonight was the first exhibition game of the season for the Ducks and I decided to attend to get my college basketball fix, since I can't watch my Gophers. That tree-painted court at Matthew Knight Arena is something else, let me tell you. And, I know it was just an exhibition game but wow, it was eerily quiet in that arena tonight. Hopefully that picks up in the regular season. This is still largely a football town, but Altman is changing that, slowly but surely.
As for Boucher, the kid is a twig. Although he moves pretty well and has enough athleticism to make up for it. There were a few times where they were in a fast break and he was the first one down the court, catching the long pass from a teammate, and making a move to score. He also had a monster alley-oop that got some noise from the crowd. He looked lost on the court at times, though. Often holding his hands up as to say "what should I be doing?". Just the new system probably.
With the reduction in his eligibility, it appears that there is a silver lining in the Gophers missing on him. Gilbert should be a solid 4-year player and Murphy looks to be a straight up stud.
Go Gophers!
