JaQuan Lyle.jpg

JaQuan Lyle and his family pose for a photo after his commitment Wednesday to Oregon.

(Via @ndkendrick on Twitter)

MILWAUKEE -- Oregon officially gained a commitment Wednesday from JaQuan Lyle, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who was one of the nation's best uncommitted players remaining in the class of 2014. He chose the Ducks over Oklahoma State and Memphis.

The Evansville, Ind., native played this season at a prep school in Huntington, W.V., that also produced Kansas star Andrew Wiggins, and was rated by Rivals as the nation's 22nd-best prospect. He averaged 17.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 5.7 assists per game during his senior season.

He announced his decision

n his hometown (see live stream below), where he put on a green ballcap with a yellow "O" logo and unzipped his jacket to reveal a yellow Oregon T-shirt after his announcement.

"I had a good relationship with the head coach and the assistant coaches so right then I knew it was a good decision from the jump," Lyle told the Evansville Courier-Press, describing himself as a combo guard.

He envisions his role as "just come in right away and play impact minutes," saying that Oregon's coaches pitched to him the possibility of "coming in and me playing right away. Just playing impact minutes was the main thing."

At 6-5, Lyle is a big guard who will help replace the offense of outgoing senior guards Johnathan Loyd and Jason Calliste.

Oregon assistant Tony Stubblefield recruited Lyle, but coach Dana Altman said Wednesday that UO's recruiting has been helped by its success such as reaching NCAA Tournaments in consecutive years. Altman has said several times this season that his goal is to wean the Ducks off of short-term infusions of talent from junior colleges and transfers and create a more solid year-to-year foundation with prep recruits.

"You talk to recruits last year and they knew we played in the Sweet 16," Altman said. "They saw the game against Louisville and every player wants to play in that atmosphere. This first-round game is important just because there are so many people watching this first weekend and it's important to make a good showing."

Seventh-seeded Oregon faces 10th-seeded BYU on Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament's West Regional from Milwaukee. Lyle said he would be watching closely.

He had committed to Louisville in June 2013 but decommitted four months later and had been courted by schools such as his three finalists and Kansas ever since. There were almost as many schools after him as Oregon uniform combinations.

"No favorite jersey combination, they have too many," Lyle said. "Hopefully I like all of them."