Oregon
Oh My! Oregon WBB: It Couldn’t Get Any Worse? | FishDuck
Well, now we have NO Chance…or Grace, or Kennedy or Priscilla. (My granddaughter gets credit for that opening NO Chance line.) Just when I was getting ready to write a piece that I was going to headline, “In Defense of Coach Graves,” another mass exodus of players hits. For those of you who have read any of my three-part series on the state of women’s basketball, it might surprise you that I would be writing a piece in defense of Coach Kelly Graves.
I will explain that in a moment, as even Mr. FishDuck, when pulled away from his fun at https://sportbet.one was startled by my reasonable rationale below…
It is getting increasingly difficult to suggest there isn’t something going on inside the Oregon Women’s Basketball program. There is no denying that Coach Graves has recruited talented players to the program over the years. Obviously, one of, if not the storyline here is, the inability of the program to retain those same players. It will be interesting to hear what Coach Graves has to say about all of this, if indeed he speaks to the issue publicly.
I have the good fortune to be able to send my pieces off for editorial review to a childhood friend who still resides back in the Hawkeye state. Before his recent retirement, this individual’s career was in journalism as a sports editor for a newspaper in a mid-size town in Iowa, and wrote a column five-days a week. This individual has true writer’s chops, as the phrase goes, as opposed to a wannabe writer like me.
My friend’s feedback on my last piece was that it was a bit of a hit-job not untypical of your standard knee-jerk fan-in-stand rant. He phrased it a bit kindlier than that. Here is the exact quote…
Don: So, a lot of good players came and then transferred. A lot of smoke, but what’s the fire? Is there a common denominator? Did they go somewhere to play more, for a different style of play? Was the coaching too hard (and counter to Graves’ good-guy, Papa Bear image?) Has this forced Oregon to rethink how it recruits, and whom it recruits? (Because obviously Graves recognized talent, just couldn’t hold it, and maybe the superstar’s chemistry became toxic?) What was the Mark Campbell factor?
Grace VanSlooten and Chance Gray are no longer Ducks. (Screenshot from GoDucks.com Video)
As a fan in the stands, you’re not really in position to answer those, but those are the questions raised. Not sure Graves would have a response, but he probably deserves the chance
Not hard to spot the difference between a real writer’s take and mine. So, though it has gotten a bit tougher given the recent events, let me try to take a more dispassionate perspective.
Clearly Coach Graves can coach. He was an assistant coach for the St Mary’s Gaels when it appears there was a bit of a players’ revolt against then head coach Terri Rubenstein following the 1996 season. Graves became head coach in 1997 and turned a mediocre program into an immediate winner and did that for three seasons before moving on to Gonzaga where he not only turned that program around, but he also made the Zags a player on the national stage.
Graves coached the Zags for fourteen years and ended up with a winning percentage of nearly .700. (Interesting side note here. Graves assistant at the time was Lisa Fortier and she became the next head coach, and her current winning percentage is .810. She also was the recruiting coordinator under Graves and is given credit for mentoring Courtney Vandersloot.)
Graves took over at Oregon in 2014 and resuscitated the program when it was on life-support following the Paul Westhead debacle. Graves not only brought the program back to life, the Lady Ducks, led by Sabrina, Ruthie, Satu et al were on their way to a possible/probable national title until the pandemic struck in 2019-2020.
It is worth nothing that at least three assistants under Graves have gone on to become successful head coaches. There is already mentioned Lisa Fortier who succeeded Graves at Gonzaga. There is J.R. Payne who has turned around the Colorado program. And of course, there is Mark Campbell who immediately turned Sacramento State into a winner and looks to be doing the same at TCU.
Graves had a ton of success at Gonzaga. (Screenshot from Gonzaga Bulldogs Athletic Dept. Video)
As stated above, it’s clear Coach Graves can identify and recruit talent. Yes, I know. Some give credit to Mark Campbell for some of the recruiting success, but Graves, as the head coach, must get the credit in the end. The obvious elephant on the hardwood floor here is that, while Graves clearly was able to bring in talented players, he has been unable to keep them in the fold.
My journalistic friend back in Iowa raises legitimate reasons on why folks may have decided to leave. Maybe too many talented players and not enough playing time to go around. Maybe some players just wanted to play closer to home. Maybe Graves had the bad luck to not have a true leader emerge. Maybe the style of play didn’t work for some folks. A lot more maybes we could list here.
It had to have been a gut-punch to miss out on the opportunity to play for a national championship in the 2019-2020 season. Closer to the end of his coaching career than the beginning, Graves must have pondered if he would get another chance at grabbing that golden ring.
In Graves’ defense, it’s fair to acknowledge that the world Coach Graves lived in and succeeded in for many years has changed dramatically. Graves has expressed his concerns about how much things have changed with the arrival of the transfer portal and the freedom/choices that provides for student-athletes. My hunch is that is much easier for a younger person like Coach Dan Lanning to adapt and adjust to this new world than perhaps someone the age of Coach Kelly who, as of this writing, is 61.
Graves has been in coaching since 1988 and has been a head coach since 1996. That’s a long time to be doing anything. Considering his track record over the longer term–does he deserve more time to turn it around?
Don Marsh
Eugene, Oregon
Top Screenshot from GoDucks.com Video
Share your thoughts about this team in the only free, “polite and respectful” Oregon Sports message board, the Our Beloved Ducks forum!
I am a transplanted Hawkeye who loves the Ducks because they realize there is more to football than just defense. Owner of Emerald Bridge Club with wife Sherri, and is a past State Champion in Horseshoes.
KEIZER, Ore. — Marion County officials are alerting the public about a registered sex offender living in Keizer, saying the notification is intended to support public awareness and safety.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said it is releasing the information pursuant to ORS 163A.215, which authorizes Community Corrections to inform the public when the release of such information will enhance public safety and protection.
The sheriff’s office said Julian Ivan Herrera has been convicted of a sex offense requiring registration with the Oregon State Police and, based on his criminal history, has been classified at a level indicating a potential to re-offend.
Herrera’s listed residence is 699 Lost Ln N in Keizer. He is described as a 41-year-old Black man who is 5-foot-4 and weighs 125 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. His SID number is 18104153, and his date of birth is Nov. 1,1984.
According to the sheriff’s office, Herrera is on supervised probation for the crimes of harassment and sex abuse in the third degree. His prior convictions include contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, attempted assault IV, and public indecency.
The sheriff’s office said Herrera was granted supervision on March 23, 2026, and his supervision is set to expire March 22,2031.
Victims of Herrera include a minor female known to him and an adult male known to him, according to the sheriff’s office.
Special conditions listed by the sheriff’s office include no contact with minors, not frequenting places where minors congregate, and no alcohol or other intoxicating substances.
Oregon
Career criminal creep with 166 arrests, 55 convictions since 1999 sentenced to life in prison
An Oregon creep with a record-setting rap sheet cataloguing a staggering 166 arrests dating back to his teens was finally sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
Joshua Cory Nealy, 41, was slapped with the hefty life sentence without possibility for parole for a January 2023 arrest where he flashed a female clothing store employee and a security officer, according to a news release from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.
The misdemeanor charge, which would usually land first-time offenders behind bars for just one year, did him in after a whopping 55 prior convictions, including seven felony charges.
Nealy was already on parole when he strolled into the Washington Square Mall in Portland and started schmoozing with a skeptical clothing store clerk.
The repeat offender sifted aimlessly through the store and collected a random assortment of clothes. He asked the female clerk for assistance while he was nude in the store’s changing room — then “opened the door fully and exposed himself to her,” the release said.
Nealy invited the woman to have sex and attempted to cajole her into the dressing room. The victim quickly flagged down a security officer, who Nealy also flashed before fleeing the store with a stolen pair of sunglasses.
Officers with the Tigard Police Department — located one town over from the mall — nabbed the registered sex offender that same day.
Before Washington County Circuit Judge Theodore Sims remanded Nealy to life in prison on Friday, his attorneys tried to argue that the repeat offender had a “compromised mental state.”
The lawyers cited a police report from Nealy’s 2007 attempted rape conviction that described how he “was using ‘crank’,” the street term for meth, “had been awake for two days and expressed his belief that his mother was the Queen of Southern England,” as reported by Oregon Live.
They also noted the defense’s sentencing memo for his first public indecency conviction, where he was apparently talking gibberish during the ordeal.
Then, the lawyers alleged that Nealy was “under the influence” during the incident at the Portland mall.
Despite their efforts, Nealy was handed the life sentence in accordance with a state statute that requires the imposition for defendants who have two prior felony sex crime convictions.
Court records obtained by Oregon Live show that Nealy still has two outstanding cases for assault and attempted assault in Washington County.
Nealy, whose criminal record dates back to when he was just 14 years old, was previously charged with attempted rape, robbery, various assaults, failure to report as a sex offender and more.
Oregon
Oregon’s 1,500-Acre Dog Park Paradise Just Outside Portland Offers Off-Leash Terrain, Trails, And River – Islands
For many dogs, a perfect day involves playing catch in a giant field, sniffing around a dense forest, and topping it all off with a swim. Just outside of Portland, Oregon, which Forbes calls one of the best cities in the U.S. for dogs, lies the Sandy River Delta, where dogs can have their perfect day. The park offers close to 1,500 acres of pure, off-leash dog bliss where the Sandy River meets the mighty Columbia. This land was once a part of the Watlala Nation and was visited by Lewis and Clark, whose team camped on the shores of the Columbia here.
Almost the entirety of the park is off-leash. The park has five trails where dogs can be off-leash, beaches, rivers, and fields that are all open to sniffing, running free, and playing catch. You’re able to hike the trails with your dog roaming along at their own pace. The trails allowing dogs off-leash range from 0.25 to 2 miles long and showcase different ecological zones in the delta. The forests are full of interesting smells for your pup, and the meadows are wide and open — perfect spots to play with other dogs that are also having their best day ever.
The Sandy River Delta is located in Troutdale, Oregon’s “Gateway to the Columbia River Gorge.” Standing in the middle of the park, looking at the views of the gorge, you’d never know that downtown Portland is 17 miles to the west.
There’s so much for you and your dog to do at the Sandy River Delta Park
The areas a dog must remain on-leash are: the parking lot, bathrooms, picnic areas, and within 100 feet of one of the park’s main treks, the Confluence Trail. If you take a route that crosses the Confluence Trail, your dog is allowed to be off-leash, as long as they don’t disturb hikers. A fenced section on the park’s eastern edge is closed to people and pets to give wildlife some peace and quiet. Other than those specified areas, your dog has plenty of acreage to explore. Just make sure your dog doesn’t dig, and please pack out their waste!
Humans have something to look forward to here, as well. The Confluence Trail runs 1.25 miles along ADA-compliant gravel leading to a bird blind designed by architect and sculptor Maya Lin. The elliptical bird blind is made of wooden slats inscribed with the name and current conservation status of the 134 different species Lewis and Clark encountered. Lin is a renowned artist whose work appears at places like Storm King Art Center, one of the largest outdoor sculpture parks in the U.S.
How to get to the Sandy River Delta Park and what’s nearby
One practical note: bring a towel for your pup. The park offers a lot of water for your dog to swim in, and the shore gets pretty muddy. The cool water is a refreshing treat for your dog in the middle of summer. You can hike to the Sandy River and a side channel of the Columbia easily. Don’t worry — the nearby forest provides free sticks to toss into the water for your dog to fetch. To get to the Sandy River Delta from wherever you are in Portland, take I-84 East. The parking lot will get full on the weekends, so get there early or go late. If the parking is full, you can park down the street at a free lot across from the river and enter through a trail.
After all this running around and sniffing, you deserve a treat, too. Portland is one of the top five foodie cities in the U.S., and that love of good food doesn’t stop at the city borders. A mile down the street from the park is the Sugarpine Drive-In, a restored gas station casually serving gourmet food and ice cream sundaes. The New York Times said the Cherries Jubilee Sundae was one of the best dishes in 2024. On the way home, stop at McMenamins’ Edgefield location — a former farm that is now home to a pet-friendly hotel, multiple bars and restaurants, a spa, a brewery, distillery, winery, golf course, and an outdoor concert venue that consistently brings in nationally touring acts.
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