Gildon Coming Home To A Place She Remembers
03/22/18 | Women's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon junior Oti Gildon will reunite with family in her hometown of Spokane, Wash., when the Ducks travel there to face Central Michigan in the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday.
This week, Oti Gildon has had a particular song by the Eugene native and national recording artist Mat Kearney stuck in her head.
"It's like," Gildon said, before breaking into song: "I'm coming home to the place that I remember …"
Oregon fans of course recognize the lyrics to Kearney's hit, "Coming Home (Oregon)," which is a staple of UO home football and basketball games. For Gildon this week, the song holds a different meaning: the Ducks' junior forward will be reunited with friends and family in Spokane, Wash., when the UO women's basketball team plays there in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen on Saturday.
The Spokane Regional No. 2 seed Ducks (32-4) face No. 11 seed Central Michigan (30-4) in Spokane Arena on Saturday (3 p.m., ESPN). The winner moves on to an Elite Eight game Monday.
Gildon, a 6-foot-1 reserve forward for the Ducks, moved to Spokane with her family from Gary, Ind., prior to the start of seventh grade. She attended Gonzaga Prep, helping the Bullpups win two straight titles and 50 straight games over her junior and senior seasons.
In helping Gonzaga Prep wins state titles in both 2014 and 2015, Gildon recorded a double-double in each championship game. Her final appearance with the Bullpups was in the Dick's Sporting Goods/ESPN national high school tournament; Gonzaga Prep saw its 50-game win streak end in a loss to a team from Miami, but Gildon had 26 points and 19 rebounds in the game.
Her role at Oregon is different — Gildon has made just one career start, contributing instead off the bench — but the results have been similar. Just as Gildon helped the Bullpups win the first two state titles in school history, she's helped the Ducks reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first two times in school history, in 2017 and now 2018.
Gildon's impact is felt more through timely rebounds and screens for teammates than prolific points totals. It's appreciated deeply by the Ducks.
"Oti's a winner," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "She's been in a lot of big games, relative to where she's playing at the time. Some people just have that knack. If you look at every level — NBA, college — there's always that one player that seems to shine. That's been her."
Indeed, when the lights shine brightest, Gildon has found the spotlight, in big ways and small. Oregon's program-changing upset of Washington in the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament featured a couple of critical offensive rebounds by Gildon late in the game. In her only career start, earlier this season when Ruthy Hebard was nursing an injury, Gildon recorded career-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds against Hampton.
And just last week, in the Ducks' first-round NCAA Tournament win over Seattle U, Gildon had 16 points with six rebounds.
Gildon is averaging 7.0 points per game in this tournament, a number that doesn't exactly jump off the screen. But advanced analytics illustrate her ability to take advantage of opportunities. According to Synergy Sports Technology, Gildon is averaging 1.57 points per possession while on the court — the third-highest rate in the entire tournament.
"It's been fun," Gildon said. "I just try to do the best I can to help out the team, no matter if it's defense, or cheering them on from the bench."
Graves has known about Gildon's skills and team-first attitude since hosting her in youth camps going back nearly 10 years go, when Graves was head coach at Gonzaga University. And Gildon remembers current UO assistant Jodie Berry scouting her in high school state tournament games.
When it came time to be recruited, Gildon was ready to stay home and sign with Gonzaga had Graves stayed there. Instead, prior to her senior season in high school, Graves took the Oregon job. As unflappable as she's proven to be in big games, Gildon similarly wasn't rattled by that tumult.
"I was like, 'Oh man, hopefully I like it there,' " she recalled. "And luckily I did. But I would have followed him wherever he went."
Now, three years after Graves enticed Gildon to leave Spokane and move to Eugene, she's coming home. Her mom and step-dad still live in town, and plan to host UO players for dinner upon their arrival Thursday night. Gildon will see siblings, and grandparents, and friends.
"It's gonna be really fun to go home and see everybody," she said.
Along with Sabrina Ionescu and Lexi Bando, Gildon has been working hardest on the team to wrangle enough tickets for friends and family this weekend. Given Gildon's history in tournament games, they're in for a show whenever she takes the court come Saturday.
"It's like," Gildon said, before breaking into song: "I'm coming home to the place that I remember …"
Oregon fans of course recognize the lyrics to Kearney's hit, "Coming Home (Oregon)," which is a staple of UO home football and basketball games. For Gildon this week, the song holds a different meaning: the Ducks' junior forward will be reunited with friends and family in Spokane, Wash., when the UO women's basketball team plays there in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen on Saturday.
The Spokane Regional No. 2 seed Ducks (32-4) face No. 11 seed Central Michigan (30-4) in Spokane Arena on Saturday (3 p.m., ESPN). The winner moves on to an Elite Eight game Monday.
Gildon, a 6-foot-1 reserve forward for the Ducks, moved to Spokane with her family from Gary, Ind., prior to the start of seventh grade. She attended Gonzaga Prep, helping the Bullpups win two straight titles and 50 straight games over her junior and senior seasons.
In helping Gonzaga Prep wins state titles in both 2014 and 2015, Gildon recorded a double-double in each championship game. Her final appearance with the Bullpups was in the Dick's Sporting Goods/ESPN national high school tournament; Gonzaga Prep saw its 50-game win streak end in a loss to a team from Miami, but Gildon had 26 points and 19 rebounds in the game.
Her role at Oregon is different — Gildon has made just one career start, contributing instead off the bench — but the results have been similar. Just as Gildon helped the Bullpups win the first two state titles in school history, she's helped the Ducks reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first two times in school history, in 2017 and now 2018.
Gildon's impact is felt more through timely rebounds and screens for teammates than prolific points totals. It's appreciated deeply by the Ducks.
"Oti's a winner," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "She's been in a lot of big games, relative to where she's playing at the time. Some people just have that knack. If you look at every level — NBA, college — there's always that one player that seems to shine. That's been her."
Indeed, when the lights shine brightest, Gildon has found the spotlight, in big ways and small. Oregon's program-changing upset of Washington in the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament featured a couple of critical offensive rebounds by Gildon late in the game. In her only career start, earlier this season when Ruthy Hebard was nursing an injury, Gildon recorded career-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds against Hampton.
And just last week, in the Ducks' first-round NCAA Tournament win over Seattle U, Gildon had 16 points with six rebounds.
Gildon is averaging 7.0 points per game in this tournament, a number that doesn't exactly jump off the screen. But advanced analytics illustrate her ability to take advantage of opportunities. According to Synergy Sports Technology, Gildon is averaging 1.57 points per possession while on the court — the third-highest rate in the entire tournament.
"It's been fun," Gildon said. "I just try to do the best I can to help out the team, no matter if it's defense, or cheering them on from the bench."
Graves has known about Gildon's skills and team-first attitude since hosting her in youth camps going back nearly 10 years go, when Graves was head coach at Gonzaga University. And Gildon remembers current UO assistant Jodie Berry scouting her in high school state tournament games.
When it came time to be recruited, Gildon was ready to stay home and sign with Gonzaga had Graves stayed there. Instead, prior to her senior season in high school, Graves took the Oregon job. As unflappable as she's proven to be in big games, Gildon similarly wasn't rattled by that tumult.
"I was like, 'Oh man, hopefully I like it there,' " she recalled. "And luckily I did. But I would have followed him wherever he went."
Now, three years after Graves enticed Gildon to leave Spokane and move to Eugene, she's coming home. Her mom and step-dad still live in town, and plan to host UO players for dinner upon their arrival Thursday night. Gildon will see siblings, and grandparents, and friends.
"It's gonna be really fun to go home and see everybody," she said.
Along with Sabrina Ionescu and Lexi Bando, Gildon has been working hardest on the team to wrangle enough tickets for friends and family this weekend. Given Gildon's history in tournament games, they're in for a show whenever she takes the court come Saturday.
Players Mentioned
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