OR forward Chris Boucher, who has played a crucial role for the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champion Ducks, is eligible to return to the program for the 2016-17 season after having a waiver request granted by the NCAA.
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The Oregon Ducks are on the cusp of opening up their first NCAA tournament ever as a No. 1 seed. He has been one of the team’s best players and should continue to improve in 2016-17. He has started 31 of the 34 games that OR has played so far this season.
Boucher has provided an immediate impact after arriving from Northwest College in Wyoming.
Boucher joined the Ducks this season out of junior college, and was declared a senior due to the circumstances of his high school graduation, which was delayed when he took a year off to work and support his family. The 6-foot-10 Canadian also became the first player in the history of the Pac-12 to block 100 shots and hit 30 3-pointers in a season, showing his versatility as a player.
The NCAA determined the situation to be “circumstances beyond his control”, paving the way for his extra year of eligibility, per Rob Moseley of the Ducks’ official athletics website.
The NCAA’s eligibility center requires that all prospective intercollegiate athletes supply a timeline accounting for all of their activities prior to college competition. Thus, it views Boucher’s two seasons of junior college play as his sophomore and junior seasons of eligibility and this season his final, senior year. Oregon, Utah and California each received top four seeds this year, and all seven teams have a higher seed than their opponents in the tournament. That would make 2012-13 a postgraduate year (a common waypoint for many college basketball prospects in the states), and not a season of college competition.
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“Chris is a tremendous young man, and we’re very excited to have him back with us for another year”, coach Dana Altman said.
