N’Faly Dante of the Oregon Ducks blocks Bronny James

EUGENE – Las Vegas is heating up for the NBA 2K25 Summer League, and so are some former Oregon Ducks who will be taking the court at the Thomas & Mack Center over the next 10 days.

Former Oregonians basketball stars Eugene Omoruyi, Payton Pritchard, Jermaine Couisnard, N’Faly Dante and Kel’el Ware, who transferred from Oregon to Indiana before being drafted, are all participating in the NBA 2K25 Summer League.

Eugene Omoruyi

Former Duck Eugene Omoruyi is a Washington Wizard. After playing for both the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Oregon Ducks in college, he went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft. Although his name was not called in the draft, Omoruyi signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks. However, a season-ending injury in December of that year put his NBA debut on hold.

In March, the Wizards converted Omoruyi’s contract to a standard NBA deal. Now healthy and in Washington, Omoruyi is determined to carve out a niche for himself in the league.

On the first day of the NBA 2K25 Summer League, Omoruyi and the Wizards defeated the Atlanta Hawks 94-88. Omoruyi scored eight points and added five rebounds, two assists, four steals and a block.

Payton Pritchard

Freshly crowned NBA Championship winner and current Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is ready to participate in the NBA 2k25 Summer League.

The 6’1″ guard from the University of Oregon joined the Boston Celtics as a first-round pick in 2020. Pritchard played for the Celtics’ Summer League team in 2021, where he led Boston to the Summer League championship game.

Last regular season, Pritchard had a huge impact on the Celtics, setting new career highs in nearly every category. Pritchard averaged 7.8 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game.

Pritchard and the Celtics will play their first game in Vegas on Saturday, July 13 at 3:30 p.m. PDT against another former Duck: Kel’el Ware.

Jermaine Coussnard

Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard had an incredible performance in his final collegiate season with the Ducks. The East Chicago, Indiana native averaged 16.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He also scored a season-high 40 points in Oregon’s win over his former team, South Carolina, setting a school record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game.

After the 2023–24 season, Couisnard trained with various NBA teams across the country. On June 28, Couisnard signed as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Although Couisnard did not play in the first game, he is expected to see playing time later this week.

N’Faly Dante

N’Faly Dante is another notable Duck competing in the NBA 2K25 Summer League who has already made an impression with the Houston Rockets in his NBA debut. Dante started at center and scored two points in the Rockets’ 99-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. As usual, Dante was a force to be reckoned with, grabbing seven rebounds, the second most of any player. Dante also had a block on Bronny James.

Dante is only the fourth NBA player from Mali. Historically, there have only been three: Cheick Diallo (New Orleans Pelicans), Sagaba Konate (Toronto Raptors) and Adama Sanogo (Chicago Bulls).

Kel’el Ware

Kel’el Ware is an up-and-coming young center in the NBA. Drafted 15th overall by the Miami Heat in 2024, Ware played college basketball for Oregon before transferring to Indiana last season.

Ware has averaged 19.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in his first two Summer League appearances. He will play his first NBA 2k25 Summer League game on Saturday, July 13 at 3:30 p.m. PDT against the Boston Celtics.