When one thinks of Oregon sports, the mind immediately goes to flash. Oregon always has among the nicest facilities, brand new uniforms, and an overall talented team. Men’s basketball has recently achieved its greatest success in program history. This has led Oregon to become a lot bolder in its recruiting.

Oregon basketball has been fishing for recruits in what would typically be thought of as “Blue Blood” waters over the past couple years. The program has gone all-in with recruiting, throwing its hat in the ring with players who likely wouldn’t have even given Oregon the time of day a decade ago. With Dana Altman rising to be among the ranks of college basketball’s elite coaches, along with a historic Final Four run in 2017, it makes sense that Oregon would try its luck with top recruits.

So far, this strategy has worked wonders for the Ducks. Their 2017 recruiting class ranked just outside the top 10 on 247sports’s rankings, led by one-and-done freshman Troy Brown. The 2018 class made even larger strides, with Oregon currently sitting at the number three spot in the country. Two five-star players have signed letters of intent, including Bol Bol, who -- at number four nationally -- is the top-rated player in program history. Oregon has been reaping the benefits of its recent success.

Still, with Oregon hauling in big-time recruits, it’s bound to miss on quite a few as well. The Ducks made the top three of the nation’s top 2018 recruit in R.J. Barrett, but he eventually chose Duke back in November. On Saturday, five-star point guard Brandon Williams elected to recommit to Arizona in a somewhat shocking decision. Oregon worked its way into the picture with Williams after allegations rocked the Arizona basketball program, but was ultimately unable to close the deal. A similar situation arose in 2017 when Oregon missed out on five-star center Brandon McCoy, who most experts thought would be headed to the pros through a Eugene-based route.

Oregon may think it’s one of the big dogs in college basketball, but it’s not quite there yet. This historic recruiting class for the Ducks is just par for the course for programs like Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas. Even PAC-12 rivals like Arizona and UCLA have experienced success similar to what Oregon has now. Oregon is landing some talented players, but the ones they miss out on typically land with a school on this list, or another one with more historical prominence than the Ducks.

This isn’t saying that Oregon can’t get to that level. If the program continues on the trajectory its on, it can remain among the top of the college basketball world for years to come. After Oregon’s rough 2018 season where it was working in almost an entirely new rotation, Altman needs to prove that he didn’t just catch lightning in a bottle for one or two seasons. Elite programs are able to sustain high levels of success. Even though things didn’t look the best for Oregon in 2018, that doesn’t leave them out of the conversation for emerging programs.

The Ducks’ journey to reach “Blue Blood” status won’t be easy, but they already have the most important piece in place: an elite head coach. Altman has failed to disappoint in his tenure as Oregon’s basketball coach and has led the program to unprecedented success. Coaches are so highly valued in college basketball, that they have become the single most important factor when building a top program.

Take Jay Wright for example. Villanova was always a good program but was never believed to be among the Blue Bloods until Wright came along and has dominated March Madness in two of the last three seasons. This isn’t saying that Altman is on the same level as Wright, but he is among the top tier of coaches. That will be the most important factor for Oregon going forward, along with stealing top recruits from the established Blue Bloods.

As long as Oregon can be successful with its elite recruiting classes, the players will keep coming. There will be a lot of pressure for the incoming freshmen to help lead the team immediately, and will probably be given far less room for error than last year. With the likelihood that Bol Bol and Louis King will turn pro after one season, the Ducks need to capitalize on their time with them. If Oregon can make another deep tournament run with freshmen leading the show, there’s no reason that other elite recruits in the future won’t give Oregon a chance. This will be proof that Oregon can hang with programs that have been doing this for decades.

It’s obvious that Oregon basketball’s ultimate goal is to win national titles. That’s the goal of every team, but the Ducks have built a foundation where it actually seems possible. The program has quickly vaulted itself into the conversation for top recruits that wouldn’t have seemed even in the realm of possibility in years past. The team has had its fair share of misses, but eventually, more of those players will be placing a hat with the letter “O” emblazoned in front on top of their heads. The Blue Bloods may rule the history of college basketball, but with the direction Oregon is heading, the Ducks are determined to rule its future.