Montana lands DePaul transfer Oscar Lopez Jr.

As far back as he can remember, Oscar Lopez Jr. has always been called Oso. His mother gave him the nickname at a young age, and it caught on with coaches and teammates.

Translated from Spanish, oso means bear, which Lopez finds fitting considering he is now a Grizzly.

Lopez, who spent the past two seasons playing basketball at DePaul, announced on Instagram Live on Monday that he will be continuing his collegiate career at Montana.

"I'm fully committed to Montana and can't wait to get to work," the 6-4 guard said. "In my heart and in my gut this feels right."

Montana's mascot, of course, wasn't the reason for Lopez's commitment, but it was an added bonus.

Bigger for Lopez, though, were two things in particular.

First, he's joining a group of players he's familiar with. Lopez admits that transferring during the COVID-19 pandemic was not easy. He wasn't able to visit campus and has never been to the state of Montana (he's fine with the cold, however, spending the past two years in Chicago, he says).

Making the bizarre recruitment process easier was Lopez's knowledge of Montana's roster.

He and Josh Vazquez starred together at Bishop Montgomery High School, leading the Knights to a 31-1 record and a No. 3 national ranking during their junior seasons. The two played together in high school and on the AAU circuit, and even lived together for a period of time.

"Josh is my guy and I'm excited to be back with him," Lopez said of Vazquez. "The crazy thing about us is how easy we understood each other's game and how well we knew each other. I feel like these next few years are going to be like AAU all over again."

Growing up in southern California, he's also friends with other current Grizzlies, competing against Derrick Carter-Hollinger and Kyle Owens, as well.

"The connection and chemistry I felt, that made up for not being able to visit," Lopez said. "To go to school with my boys is something you can't beat."

Second in Lopez's decision was the relentless pursuit of Montana's coaching staff. Spearheaded by assistant coach Jay Flores, Lopez said his recruitment by Montana was unlike anything he had ever experienced – coming out of high school or this time around.

"I've never been recruited that hard in my life," Lopez said of the Montana coaching staff. "Out of all of the coaches who have ever recruited me, these coaches kept it real with me from the start and they always kept their word. I felt that genuine, family-type love from them."

Those words aren't lost on head coach Travis DeCuire.

"We try not to make promises that we can't keep, so when we promise something, we promise to take care of you, to have your back and to work hard for you," DeCuire said. "Once they get here, they know this is a team program and it's about the success of the group.

"Oscar fits that. He knows that he can develop here as a player and a person, and that we can provide some opportunities for him."

#GrizNation, help us welcome DePaul transfer @hollywood_o_34 to Missoula!#GrizHoops #BigSkyMBB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/bIftHOiDMz
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) May 3, 2021

Thanks to 2020-21 being an exempt year due to COVID-19, Lopez will have three years of immediate eligibility with Montana. He said he made his decision several weeks ago, but waited until Monday – his mother's birthday – to announce his commitment.

Lopez played parts of two seasons at DePaul, averaging 8.7 minutes per contest across 21 games as a true freshman in 2019-20. His sophomore season had its ebbs and flows, missing the majority of the year due to various leg injuries.

When he was on the court, however, he flashed what he is capable of doing.

In his season opener, his stat line read 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in a win over Western Illinois. In the next game, at Providence of the BIG EAST, he scored nine points while again earning a start.

He missed the next two months with a knee injury, but made his return in late February, at St. John's, where he showed little rust, scoring 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Despite being limited to four games in 2020-21, Lopez averaged 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting .615 from the floor (16-of-26).

"He has toughness and versatility, which is something we lacked at the wing position this year," DeCuire said, noting Montana instead had several 4's or combo guards playing the 3 position. "That's a position that has been valuable to us in the past, and I thought it caught up to us in close games down the stretch. We need guys who can make a play when it matters most, either making a shot or making a stop, and we think Oscar can provide that for us."

Lopez initially thought his December injury was going to end his season, but as he continued to rehab and train, he felt good, and naturally, was eager to get back on the court. In his second game back, however, he injured his ankle coming down for a rebound and decided a full rehab was necessary.

"I think God was telling me I came back too fast," Lopez said. "At that point, we shut things down for the year so I could get back to full strength the right way."

pic.twitter.com/Vad5hGIQH6
— oscar lopez Jr (@hollywood_o_34) May 3, 2021

Lopez is currently training back home in California, before he moves to Missoula later this summer. At that point, he says, there should be no limitations to what he can do on the court, which is something he's excited for.

"I'm a very passionate guy, I'm not going to lie," Lopez said. "I like to attack the rim and be a dog on defense.

"But I'm willing to do the dirty work . . . Pass the ball, stop the best player, rebound the ball. Being an older player now, one of the things I've learned by being in college is that times are tough and life gets hard, but teammates are there for each other, and I want to be there for my new teammates."

Prior to his stint at DePaul, Lopez was a standout at Bishop Montgomery. During his junior season, the Knights went 31-2 and were ranked No. 1 in the state of California and No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps. On the AAU circuit, Lopez played for West Coast Elite, where he averaged 9.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 11 games in the Under Armour Association, while shooting .575 from the field (42-of-73), .409 from 3-point range (9-of-22) and .929 from the free-throw line (13-of-14).

Coming out of high school, Lopez was ranked among the top 50 players in California and the top 75 shooting guards nationally by 247Sports.com. He finished his prep career at Hillcrest Prep in Arizona.

"Oscar is a guy we knew about," DeCuire said. "We had a short-lived recruitment going into his senior year, and at the time he was kind of blowing up and out of our reach. But when he was looking for a different opportunity, he remembered some of the dialogue we had, and to have a teammate like Josh, who is having success and enjoying his experience here, I think it showed him what things could look like for him here at Montana."

Lopez, who plans to study communications at Montana, joins three others who joined the Montana program over the past month: Scott Blakney (graduate transfer from Idaho), Jonathan Braggs (prep star from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas) and Lonnell Martin Jr. (transfer from Otero Junior College with two years of eligibility remaining).

University of Montana Athletics

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