Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks have shown an ability to take talented but unproven players out of the transfer portal and turn them into stars over the past few years, and they’re looking to do that again with their latest addition.
On TK, former Georgia Bulldogs and USC Trojans defensive lineman Bear Alexander announced that he would be transferring to Oregon for the 2025 season. After redshirting with the Trojans in 2024, Alexander will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Ducks should he care to use them.
Alexander is a former high-end 4-star player who was rated as the No. 50 overall player when committing to Georgia back in the class of 2022. In the portal, Alexander is rated by 247Sports as the No. 4 DL in the portal.
The talent and upside are clearly there for Alexander, who stands at 6-foot-3, 315 pounds as an interior defensive lineman. While he hasn’t been able to produce to the level that many expected so far in his career, there is a belief that Dan Lanning, Tosh Lupoi, and Tony Tuioti will be able to bring the best out of him, much like they did with junior Derrick Harmon this year, who has flown up NFL draft boards and is expected to declare for the pros after one season at Oregon.
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Alexander is the sixth portal addition for the Ducks this season.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, demanded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave his city after federal agents launched tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators — including young children — outside an ICE facility during a weekend protest that he and others characterized as peaceful.
Thousands of people attended the “ICE out” protest on Saturday in South Portland, according to the Portland Police Bureau. The protest began near Elizabeth Caruthers Park, and demonstrators later moved to an ICE facility a few blocks away, CBS affiliate KOIN reported. That’s where witnesses said agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets.
Erin Hoover Barnett, a former OregonLive reporter who joined the protest, said she was about 100 yards from the building in Portland’s South Waterfront when “what looked like two guys with rocket launchers” started dousing the crowd with gas.
“To be among parents frantically trying to tend to little children in strollers, people using motorized carts trying to navigate as the rest of us staggered in retreat, unsure of how to get to safety, was terrifying,” Barnett wrote in an email to OregonLive.
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The use of tear gas continued intermittently through the night as the group of protesters dwindled, KOIN reported.
The federal government “must, and will, be held accountable,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said Saturday night. “To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children.
Wilson also said the city would be imposing a fee on detention facilities that use chemical agents.
The mayor said the daytime demonstration was peaceful, “where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat and posed no danger” to federal agents.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave,” Wilson wrote in his statement Saturday night. “Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame.”
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The Portland Fire Bureau sent paramedics to treat people at the scene, police said. Police officers monitored the crowd but made no arrests on Saturday.
In a statement posted Sunday to social media, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek condemned the presence of ICE in the state.
“Trump’s ICE has no place in Oregon,” Kotek wrote. “The use of tear gas against families, children, and peaceful demonstrators yesterday is a horrific abuse of authority that undermines public safety and violates constitutional rights. Federal agents must stand down and be held accountable.”
The Portland protest was one of many similar demonstrations nationwide against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in cities like Minneapolis, where in recent weeks federal agents killed two residents, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
In downtown Los Angeles, federal officers also deployed tear gas into the crowd on Saturday after local police issued an unlawful assembly order, CBS LA reported. At least eight people were arrested, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
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Federal agents in Eugene, Oregon, deployed tear gas on Friday when protesters tried to get inside the Federal Building near downtown. City police declared a riot and ordered the crowd to disperse.
President Trump posted Saturday on social media that it was up to local law enforcement agencies to police protests in their cities. However, Mr. Trump said he has instructed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to have federal agents be vigilant in guarding U.S. government facilities.
“Please be aware that I have instructed ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property. There will be no spitting in the faces of our Officers, there will be no punching or kicking the headlights of our cars, and there will be no rock or brick throwing at our vehicles, or at our Patriot Warriors,” Mr. Trump wrote. “If there is, those people will suffer an equal, or more, consequence.”
SAN DIEGO — Johan Munch scored 15 points and Matija Samar added six in the overtime as Oregon State knocked off San Diego 78-76 on Saturday.
Isaiah Sy made two free throws, Samar followed with a 3-pointer and the Beavers never trailed in OT.
Munch added nine rebounds for the Beavers (12-12, 5-6 West Coast Conference). Josiah Lake totaled 12 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Dez White scored 12 on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. Sy pitched in with nine points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Toreros (10-14, 4-7) were led by Adrian McIntyre with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. Assane Diop added 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Tim Moore Jr. finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.
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Sy scored six points in the first half for Oregon State, who led 30-25 at the break. Lake scored 12 second-half points and hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime tied at 60-all.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Oregon Ducks have accomplished just about everything possible for a college football team in the last few seasons. They’ve had an undefeated regular season, notched back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances and won a ton of bowl games.
The Ducks have been transformed into a perennial contender, and the only thing still on their agenda is the elusive national championship victory. They’ve gotten closer to reaching that goal in each of Dan Lanning’s first four seasons as head coach, so it feels like just a matter of time.
The college football staff of The Athletic were polled on a wide range of predictions about next season, and the most eye-popping result was next season’s national championship game winner, with Oregon receiving the most votes. Nine people out of 28 votes for them, which may not seem too convincing, but the next closest team was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with five votes.
The Ducks had their season ended by the Indiana Hoosiers, who went on to win the national championship. However, star quarterback Fernando Mendoza declared for the NFL Draft after the historic victory, so that could be enough to put Oregon in the driver’s seat.
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Their own quarterback, Dante Moore, will be back in Eugene next year with another season of experience and a full arsenal of weapons around him to make another run at glory. It feels like this team will always be in contention under Lanning, but this year will be one of the best chances they ever have to finally bring home the national title.
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