EUGENE —

There may be no better example of a player who massively raised their draft stock in the NBA this year than Payton Pritchard.

The former Oregon star, who was selected No. 26 overall in the first round of Thursday’s draft by the Boston Celtics, will forever live in program history.

“Didn’t have to do much selling because they all really liked him,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said of his conversations with NBA scouts and executives before the draft. “It was easy from our vantage point to give a great recommendation. He’s in the gym all the time, he worked hard, he’s really competitive, didn’t miss any games, didn’t miss many practices. … Payton was easy to work with. He was easy to push, because he liked it. He listened when I barked at him. He wanted to be a better player and there was a trust factor there being together so long.”

Pritchard was the first player in Pac-12 history to have 1,900 career points, 500 career rebounds and 600 career assists. He left Eugene as Oregon’s career assists leader (659) and was the winningest player (105) in program history, making 140 starts in 144 games.

The ascent Pritchard experienced while leading the Ducks from well on the outside of the postseason conversation to a Pac-12 Tournament title and Sweet 16 bid in 2018-19 and then a regular season conference title in 2019-20 was remarkable.

“I think before the season we set out to make goals and to have a great preseason and we finished top five before the conference (season) and had some big wins,” Pritchard said. “I think we accomplished something there, being one of goals to make a statement. Then the next goal was to obviously win the conference and we achieved that. Looking at the season, I think we accomplished a lot of what we went out to do. Now we didn’t get to finish what we wanted, but to look at it from that standpoint it has been a great year and for me, my last year has been the greatest finishing out with these guys and all the memories I’m going to remember for a lifetime.”

Pritchard’s decision to return to Oregon after testing the NBA draft waters a year ago will be cited by Altman and coaches around the country for players weighing whether to do the same for years to come.

His individual accolades, including the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award, Pac-12 Player of the Year and bevy of first-team All-America honors were deserved based on his play. Pritchard averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds last season while shooting 46.8% from the field including 41.5% from 3-point range.

While fans got to see the results of Pritchard’s work, from his numerous buzzer-beaters and game-winning shots last season, the work it took to make them happen was noticed only by those who get to see inside the program.

Juxtaposing Pritchard’s statistics late during his junior season following Oregon’s loss to USC, to how he closed out that season and carried it into his senior year illustrates his remarkable rise.

He went from averaging 11.5 points and 4.2 assists and shooting 38.8% from the field and 32.9% from three, to closing out his career with a remarkable 10-game win streak to reach the Sweet 16 in 2019 and then this last season, a 42-game span during which he averaged 19.3 points, 5.5 assists and shot 46.7% from the field including 39.9% from behind the arc.

“It shows the course of a season and what players being able to grind a season out what can happen,” Altman said. “I think it shows the trust factor that the team stayed with the coaches and the coaches stayed with the team and we were able to turn that around and get things going. Payton was a huge part of that. He played really well down the stretch and we went with the big lineup and he had the ball in his hands a little bit more and he created a lot of things. It was a testament to him and the rest of the team, their competitiveness, their ability to get things turned around.

“We weren’t playing worth a darn. The UCLA, USC games were awful and we had some awful games before that but I sure was proud of the team for sticking with it and showing the competitiveness and grinding out a season and turning it around. Payton took off from that. The confidence probably hit an all-time high in the conference tournament and then the NCAA Tournament. ”

Altman said the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz were among teams discussing two-way contracts with Pritchard last year.

Pritchard turned down those potential opportunities though, betting on himself and his abilities that would make him a first-round draft pick.

As he did more times as Oregon than anyone before him, the kid from West Linn won.

“It did so much for me,” he said. “I understood what it took. Going through that whole process (last year). … It led me going into this year knowing what I had to improve on, what it was going to take.

“And I did it.”