Tajuan Porter has taken charge for undefeated Oregon

EUGENE - Tajuan Porter started playing basketball when he was 3, challenged by his twin sister to duels with a toy Fisher-Price hoop.

The early competitions grew into a talent that brought Porter to Oregon, where he's starting this season as a freshman.

The Ducks (8-0) popped into the poll this week at No. 22, ranking atop the Pac-10 Conference with No. 1 UCLA. Oregon is ranked for the first time since January 2003 and has its longest winning streak in coach Ernie Kent's 10 seasons.

Porter, at 5-foot-6 and 160 pounds, is the top scorer in the Pac-10, averaging 19.3 points per game. With his sweet outside shot, he has 34 3-pointers in Oregon's first eight games. The NCAA freshman record for a season is 109, set by Keydren Clark of St. Peterson in 2003.

"I try to be a solid point guard, making plays, scoring if I have to, passing the ball. I try to control the floor, being an extension of the coach on the floor,'' he said.

Porter was the surprise of the Ducks' early season when he scored 38 points on 10 3s Nov. 12 against Portland State. His points broke the school's freshman record of 31 set by Ron Lee in a game nearly 34 seasons ago.

His 10 3s tied the Pac-10's single game mark set twice by Arizona State's Stevin Smith.

"Playing basketball when I was growing up - I was always one of the main guys asked to take over. So I was prepared. This is part of a learning process,'' he said.

Porter follows former prep teammate Malik Hairston, now a junior, to the Pacific Northwest from Detroit. Both went to Renaissance High School, where Porter averaged 26.3 points, six rebounds and five assists his senior season and led his team to the state championship.

Porter joins forward Hairston and Bryce Taylor, center Maarty Leunen and fellow guard Aaron Brooks in Oregon's starting lineup. Brooks is the lone senior.

The Ducks started to grab attention when they defeated then-No. 18 Georgetown 57-50 at MCI Center on Nov. 29.

"We're going out there, and we're communicating,'' Taylor said. "And we're having fun.''

Last season was a disappointment for the Ducks, who went 15-18 overall and 7-11 in the Pac-10. Oregon finished seventh in the league but made a run in the conference tournament before a 91-87 semifinal loss to California.

In the offseason, the team played a series of exhibition games in the Bahamas, and, by all accounts, came together on the trip.

The Ducks host Eastern Washington (5-5) from the Big Sky Conference on Friday.