Oregon Ducks

With the 2013 recruiting cycle winding down, new rumors are popping up regularly as recruits and programs shuffle their plans in order to explore all of their options before signing day. Here is the latest news surrounding Oregon's recruiting efforts as signing day fast approaches.

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One of the more remarkable things about the steady rise the Oregon football program is that its home state is never going to be the place from which they stock their roster with talented recruits.

The Ducks never have had the benefit of loading up on local players who grew up dreaming of playing for the them. The talent level just isn't there, and it likely never will be. The Ducks always have recruited California as well as they can be expected to. In recent years, they have done a great job of going into states such as Texas to secure commitments from top players.

Even though Chip Kelly is a native of the Northeast, the Ducks have had no luck recruiting the region. After Kelly took over as Oregon head coach, he hired another Northeast native, former Syracuse defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro, to the same position in Eugene. Azzinaro coached Dwight Freeney at Syracuse and has had the Ducks in contention for a couple of elite prospects from New York during his tenure. But between them, Kelly and Azzarino have been able to convince only one recruit from the region to cross the country to the Great Northwest. The Ducks offered only 11 recruits from the region over the last decade, nine since Kelly took over.

To continue the series of Oregon's recruiting by state, DuckNation examines the success -- or lack thereof -- Oregon has experienced when recruiting New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont over the past decade. Below is a list of the offers extended to recruits from the region by the Oregon coaching staff.

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Stanford interest might be the highest form of validation for a West Coast offensive line recruit at this point in time. The past weekend, the Cardinal locked up another one of California's top big men.

During a tremendous recruiting weekend, Stanford hosted nine committed recruits and four uncommitted targets.

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For those Oregon fans who worry about how many commitments the Ducks have at this point in the recruiting cycle, all they need to do is take a look back over the past decade or so, starting with the 2002 recruiting class, when the Ducks landed some guy named Haloti Ngata on signing day.

With a handful of spots to fill in the class of 2013, DuckNation decided to take a look back at who the Ducks have added in the final weeks of the recruiting cycle in each year since 2003.

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Three of the fastest rising programs in the country are in the midst of a battle for one of the most dynamic players in the state of Georgia.

All three of the finalists for ATH Juwaan Williams (Tucker, Ga./Tucker) have managed to keep their head coaches despite having to hold their breath while they were courted by other programs and the NFL.

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New Volunteers head coach Butch Jones is hoping to make a splash with his first recruiting class in Knoxville, Tenn. Jones could go a long way toward accomplishing that by plucking ESPN 150 wideout target Marquez North (Charlotte, N.C./Mallard Creek) from out of state.

Tennessee hosted North on an official visit back on October and it was able to get North back on campus this weekend for an unofficial visit. According to his father, Ramondo North, it went very well.

“We enjoyed everything,” North's father said. “It was actually better than the visit we took during the season because that entire visit was structured around the game. This time we talked to the players and asked them what they thought about the new coaches and everyone had a lot of positive stuff to say.”

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After walking away from Michigan without a commitment, an ESPN 300 offensive guard arrived in Columbus, Ohio, just in time to watch Ohio State knock off the second-ranked Michigan Wolverines in men’s basketball.

That’s what started Cameron Hunt’s official visit with the Buckeyes.

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As one of the best players on what will presumably be among the top high school football teams in the country next season, ESPN Watch List LB Dwight Williams (Gardena, Calif./Serra) has received plenty of attention from college coaches in recent weeks. Last week, the 6-foot, 200-pound LB received two new scholarship offers from two tradition-rich programs.

The latest schools to be in touch with Williams both pulled the trigger and offered Williams a scholarhsip.

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This past season, Stanford walked out of Autzen Stadium with Oregon's national title hopes ruined. The Cardinal are also a nemesis for the Ducks on the recruiting trail.

One of the Ducks' top remaining targets in the Class of 2013 appears to be heading for Palo Alto, Calif., instead of Eugene, Ore., and another is visiting this weekend.

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Oregon OL coach Steve Greatwood has done an incredible job finding hidden gems from the mainland and the Pacific Islands. His latest discovery is currently enrolled at a junior college in Southern California, but he comes from a place where rugby is the sport of choice.

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Four-star tight end Durham Smythe (Belton, Texas/Belton) visited Stanford last February, but he didn’t get a chance to see much of anything. Smythe was able to get a full description of what the campus and Palo Alto, Calif., had to offer during his official visit over the weekend.

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With the stretch run of the 2013 recruiting cycle playing out right before our eyes, transfers, commitments and some seemingly innocuous events could put some programs in prime position to finish with a bang. Things that wouldn't be a blip on the radar of most fans could wind up turning the tide of a school's recruiting class.

For the Oregon Ducks, a couple of things that happened thousands of miles away in recent days could help them with two of their remaining targets.

Junior college quarterback Tanner McEvoy (Yuma, Ariz/Arizona Western) is in Eugene on an official visit this weekend. He has said publicly that the Ducks, along with West Virginia, are the two programs he will choose from.

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With the decision by head coach Chip Kelly to return to Eugene after nearly leaving for the NFL for the second year in a row, the Ducks are settling in for the stretch run of the 2013 recruiting cycle.

The return of Kelly, a win in the Fiesta Bowl and a No. 2 ranking in the final BCS poll give the Ducks plenty of momentum as they look to close their recruiting class with a bang for the third year in a row.

Here are some of the best questions submitted to the DuckNation mailbag in the past week.

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