Early in the men’s college basketball transfer portal period, the Oregon Ducks have been hard — especially at the guard positions. Star point guard Jackson Shelstad is set to depart, as is bench contributor Wei Lin. Transfer Takai Simpkins averaged 12.5 points per game but used up his final season of eligibility. That leaves little-used guards Jamari Phillips and Drew Carter, the latter of which is a walk-on, as the only semi-rotational guards from last season.
Considering each of those departures, it’s not hard to see why the Ducks would be in contact with Northwestern Wildcats transfer guard Jayden Reid, per multiple reports. Oregon is competing with Auburn, Memphis, Texas A&M, VCU, Kansas State, Utah, UCF, Seton Hall, Providence and Boston College, all of which have also been in contact with the former Wildcat.
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Reid began his career with the South Florida Bulls, starting 23 games as a sophomore and scoring 12.6 points and dishing out 3.6 assists per game. He then entered the transfer portal and landed with Northwestern in the Big Ten prior to the 2025-26 campaign.
He was terrific leading the Wildcats’ offense, finishing with a team-leading 5.0 assists per game to go along with 10.1 points per game on 39.0% shooting from the floor and 31.7% from three-point range. He started 28 of 34 games. In Northwestern’s Feb. 28 meeting with Oregon, Reid scored 11 points and recorded seven assists, helping the Wildcats prevail, 63-62, over the Ducks. He was a pest defensively as well, racking up three steals.
Oregon is also reportedly in contact with Georgetown guard KJ Lewis, who began his career at Arizona for two seasons before spending the 2025-26 campaign with the Hoyas. He was an All-Big East Third-Team selection, averaging 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He started in 27 of 28 games.
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Both Reid and Lewis are looking for a new program with just one year of eligibility remaining, but that shouldn’t matter for Oregon as Dana Altman and his staff look to add an experienced and accomplished guard to run the show in the wake of Shelstad’s departure.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Pair of talented guards in contact with Oregon Ducks MBB
