Oregon
Oregon Ducks Predicted To Flip Kansas State 5-Star Tight End Linkon Cure? National Signing Day Looms
EUGENE – The No. 1 Oregon Ducks are the lone undefeated team in college football, finishing the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2010. The Ducks will now prepare to face Penn State in the Big Ten Conference Championship game on Dec. 3. However, this is not the only date Oregon’s coaching staff has circled on their calendar. Early National Signing Day is approaching as well, and the Ducks have emerged as a front-runner for one of the best tight ends in the class of 2025: Linkon Cure.
Cure, a four-star tight end out of Goodland, Kansas, has been committed to Kansas State since July 1, choosing the Wildcats over Kansas, Texas A&M, and Oregon. Since Cure’s commitment, Oregon’s coaching staff has been working to flip Cure from Kansas State to Oregon, and according to On3’s Steve Wiltfong, the Ducks have a good chance of securing the tight end’s commitment.
FONG BOMB: On3’s @SWiltfong_ has logged an expert prediction for Oregon to flip elite Kansas State TE commit Linkon Cure🦆
Cure ranks No. 40 NATL. (No. 2 TE) in the 2025 class.
Intel: https://t.co/ywXupeFsYK pic.twitter.com/Du4wTIJuYK — On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) December 2, 2024
On Dec. 1, just a day after Oregon defeated the Washington Huskies, Wiltfong logged a prediction for the Ducks to flip the elite Kansas State commit. Cure was in Eugene Saturday for Oregon’s final game of the regular season.
“Everything stands out about Oregon for me,” Cure told Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Nemec. “What is there not to love, honestly? It’s a great route for me personally for a multitude of reasons, and we’ll just have to see how the weekend goes. It’ll be a lot of fun to be around the coaching staff. They are like a family to me.”
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound tight end is rated as the No. 1 tight end in the class of 2025 per 247Sports. The All-American is also a member of 247Sports’ 2025 Freaks List. Physically and athletically, Cure is on a different level compared to most high school tight ends and is without a doubt on track to reach his NFL dreams.
“Big, athletic, playmaking tight end prospect who can line up as a true receiver and provide mismatches in the passing game. Valuable two-way snaps at the high school level, combined with a strong multi-sport athletic profile… Enters senior season as an elite tight end prospect with high-round NFL Draft upside. Gifted flex tight end with physical tools and strength capacity to fit all TE modes at the high-major level, and potentially beyond.”
– Gabe Brooks, 247Sports
In November, the Ducks managed to flip four-star class of 2025 tight end Vander Ploog from Washington to Oregon, filling a much-needed gap in the 2025 class. Now, Oregon is working to flip yet another tight end to join the class of 2025 recruiting class.
Oregon sits at No. 8 in the nation in 247Sports’ 2025 Recruit Football Team Rankings and is No. 2 in the Big Ten Conference, just behind Ohio State. A commitment from Cure would help bolster Oregon’s 2025 class.
Cure is set to sign during the early signing period, meaning a decision will come soon.
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The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.
“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.
Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.
Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.
Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.
“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.
The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.
Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.
“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.
The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.
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