PITTSBURGH — They sat at opposite ends of a cramped locker room, each contemplating the winding path that brought them here. It hasn’t gone the way either expected, but they made peace with that long ago.
Jermaine Couisnard loved South Carolina. He remains close with members of the strength and training staffs and still goes back to campus in the summer to see old friends. He had no intention of leaving the Gamecocks, until Frank Martin was fired in March 2022. Now he’s at Oregon, an Indiana kid in the Pacific Northwest by way of the Southeast.
“Look at the distance,” he said. “Super far. Crazy.”
N’Faly Dante wasn’t supposed to still be here. He was a top-15 recruit nationally in the Class of 2020 who reclassified to 2019, the same class that produced James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Maxey. All of them are completing their fourth seasons in the NBA, and Edwards has already made two All-Star games. Dante expected to be playing alongside them. He expected to be at Oregon one year, two at the most. He was going to use his NBA money to build his mother a home in his native Mali.
“The way I planned it was not this,” Dante said. “But Allah always provides his own way. Allah made it this way. I trust Allah.”
Dante was on the floor watching Couisnard punish his former team with a career-high 40 points in 11th-seeded Oregon’s 87-73 win over 6th-seeded South Carolina in Thursday’s Midwest Region first round. It was the most points for any Oregon player in an NCAA Tournament game, and it came three weeks after Couisnard scored 39, his previous high, in a loss to Arizona three weeks ago.
There aren’t many players left at South Carolina that Couisnard played with, but Jacobi Wright is one of them. After Wright made an early 3-pointer and shouted “Cash!” Couisnard’s ears perked up.
“That’s what got me going,” Couisnard said. “I’m a competitor, and that’s a guy that I kind of mentored when I was there. So once he hit a 3 and he got to talking … That’s my little brother, though. It was nothing personal.”
Couisnard’s 40 Pace Ducks In NCAA Opener
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— Oregon Men’s Basketball (@OregonMBB) March 22, 2024
It has been a terrific month for both Dante and Couisnard and a Ducks program that at one point must have wondered if they’d even have enough healthy bodies to finish the season.
Dante and Couisnard combined for 63 of the Ducks’ 87 points Thursday, the latest in an incredible tear of excellence that has propelled one of the unlikeliest teams into the second round.
Dante is the youngest of four children who grew up in poverty in Africa. His father died when he was an infant, so his mother worked literally for peanuts, picking bags and bags of peanuts off trees and turning them into peanut butter to sell at the market. She sold enough peanut butter to put all four of her children through private school. But with no vehicle, Dante walked an hour to school each way, then when he got home, walked another hour to basketball practice.
Dante has battled injuries throughout his five years at Oregon, including this season when he missed 10 weeks to knee surgery. The Ducks lost four rotation pieces to season-ending injuries and were down to six healthy scholarship players during a stretch in December that left coach Dana Altman playing walk-ons and starting guys who would otherwise be end-of-bench reserves.
“It is what it is,” Altman told the few healthy remaining players he had. “We’re not forfeiting. Let’s get ready.”
The Ducks persevered, then caught fire in the Pac-12 tournament with wins over UCLA, Arizona and Colorado. They lost to both Arizona and Colorado earlier in March, but beat them both when it mattered most thanks to Dante and Couisnard.
“Those two guys’ leadership, it’s been the real deal,” Altman said. “They’ve done a tremendous job. As good as any of the great leaders we’ve had. They’re as good as any leaders we’ve had.”
Couisnard is scoring 22 points a game in March after averaging 15.4 during the season. Dante, who went 12-of-12 in the Pac-12 title game against Colorado, is shooting 84 percent in March (58 of 69), averaging 19.9 points and 9.3 rebounds.
The NBA is still possible for him, but likely as an undrafted rookie with a long injury history. The idea of being a coveted first-rounder passed long ago. With no NBA riches ahead of him, Dante instead sent home all of his NIL money to build a three-story house for his mother. He can’t say exactly how much, but it ranged into the six figures. The house is a surprise for Assetou Diabate, who doesn’t speak English and doesn’t know it’s coming.
“He’s the real deal,” Altman said. “How many kids would do that? He didn’t keep any of it.”
As Altman was relaying the story Thursday, Dante was leaving the locker room. Altman slugged him in the right bicep. His senior looked hurt and stunned, playfully rubbing his arm while flashing his coach a wide grin.
It’s all right. These Ducks can take a punch.
(Photo of, from left, Jermaine Couisnard, N’Faly Dante and Jackson Shelstead: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
