Oregon's Graves talks player retention, Ducks' offseason priorities

Collegiate sports have changed a lot since Oregon women's basketball coach Kelly Graves took the helm in Eugene in 2014. It's changed even more since Graves first started coaching in the late 1980s and became the head coach of Division I programs in the late '90s. With programs all around the country struggling with player retention — and some like Tennessee and Iowa State losing almost their entire rosters in the span of a few days following the 2025-26 season — the Ducks ' offseason has been a success so far , per Graves.

The Ducks' roster has stabilized over the past two offseasons, becoming one of a few programs nationally not to lose a single player to the transfer portal in 2025 and retaining every starter possible and six rotational players in 2026. Chief among those returnees are star point guard Katie Fiso and forward Ehis Etute , who took March by storm late in the year as sophomores this past season. "I think it means everything," Graves said.

"I think it shows that they like what's going on here. They like what we've built. They like the culture.

They feel that we can continue to get better. I think it was a vote of confidence in their teammates, in each other, in themselves, and then in our coaching staff and what we have to offer here. So it meant everything to me, personally.