Dana Altman reveals Oregon players taking 'big reduction' in NIL amid transfer portal departures

After the transfer portal opened this week, Oregon saw two starters enter. The departures didn’t necessarily surprise coach Dana Altman, though, and he said some Ducks players were likely to see “big reductions” in their NIL earnings.

Oregon lost KJ Evans and Jackson Shelstad to the portal, but retained Sean Stewart, The Field of 68 reported Thursday. Stewart was one of the starters Altman said the Ducks prioritized to bring back, along with Evans and Shelstad. However, he cited concerns about the budget within which the program is working.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

Altman added the results simply weren’t there this past season and cited the Ducks’ inexperience showing. But while everyone had their scholarships if they wanted, he said the program was likely to see reductions in both NIL and rev-share dollars. That’s why he wasn’t necessarily surprised by the departures.

“It wasn’t unexpected,” Altman told reporters Thursday. “There were three guys that we really wanted back – Sean and KJ and Jackson. Three starters. We did not pull anybody’s scholarship. Everybody had their scholarship, would’ve been renewed. But we are working within a budget. Some guys were going to lose their NIL totally. Most of them were taking a reduction. A big reduction.

“We just weren’t good enough this year. I made some mistakes with evaluation and inexperience. When our experienced guys suffered injuries, our inexperience showed, especially in a year where the Big Ten was a dominant conference. So none of our portal entries have been a surprise. Again, I didn’t take anybody’s scholarship. Everybody had their scholarship, would have been renewed. But their NIL and their cap money and all that was either totally taken or, really, reduced. We have to work within a budget.”

Roster costs have continued to grow across college basketball, though schools now have the ability to directly share dollars with athletes. A $20.5 million cap went in place last summer after House settlement approval and that figure is set to grow to $21.3 million on July 1.

Oregon had a rough go through the 2025-26 season, with injuries playing a role in the struggles. The Ducks went 12-21 overall and 5-15 in Big Ten play before a season-ending loss to Maryland in the opening round of the conference tournament.

Since the transfer portal window opened Monday, Dana Altman’s and Co. have lost six players. Shelstad is the highest-rated of the group at No. 16 in the On3 Industry Transfer Rankings, while Evans sits at No. 26 overall.

Shelstad averaged 15.6 points through 12 games before suffering a season-ending injury and Evans was Oregon’s leading rebounder with 7.4 per game. He also scored 13.3 points on average across 30 games.