Keyshawn Barthelemy’s Run

Sometimes, in college athletics, your best recruiting wins are the ones where you retain players from your roster. Eight games into the season, Oregon basketball is plenty thankful that they were able to convince senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy to come back this season for one final year of college basketball after sustaining a massive injury last year.

While his season got off to a slow start, with just two points scored between Oregon’s first two games of the year, the senior guard from Montreal, Canada, has turned into a Sixth Man of the Year candidate in college basketball.

Barthelemy tied a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the championship game against Alabama to lead the Ducks. Barthelemy’s las six games have been a huge boost to an Oregon squad that will enter next week ranked somewhere in the Top 25 rankings.

“Honestly, I just felt like my teammates trusted me, and I just tried to help in the game,” Barthelemy said postgame after Alabama. “I think I was able to get going with some steals. I had a couple.

“Just the two-way game is the best game to be played, and my teammates trusted me down the stretch offensively, and I was able to come up big for them.”

Over the last six games of the season, Barthelemy is averaging 12.8 points, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and he’s turned the ball over just three total times. Barthelemy has also made 15 3-pointers over the stretch.