Oregon State Last season: 5-27, including just one win in conference. Nickname: Beavers Coach: Wayne Tinkle. Conference: Pac-12. Who’s gone: Forward Matt Dahlen and guard Daine Muller both decided to graduate with eligibility left. Who’s back: The Beavers return 10
Oregon State
Last season: 5-27, including just one win in conference.
Nickname: Beavers
Coach: Wayne Tinkle.
Conference: Pac-12.
Who’s gone: Forward Matt Dahlen and guard Daine Muller both decided to graduate with eligibility left.
Who’s back: The Beavers return 10 players, including the starters for most of last season: guard Stephen Thompson Jr., forward Drew Eubanks, guard JaQuori McLaughlin, guard Kendal Manuel and forward Gligorije Rakocevic. Eubanks flirted with declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft but decided to return for his junior season. The Beavers will also see the return of forward Tres Tinkle, the coach’s son, who missed most of last season with a broken wrist.
Who’s new: Oregon State added six newcomers, including forward Seth Berger, a graduate transfer from UMass, and Ethan Thompson, Stephen’s little brother. The younger Thompson could have an impact right away after averaging 22.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists as a senior last year at Bishop Montgomery in Torrance, California.
The Skinny: Oregon State hopes the injuries that plagued them last season are in the past, and they get to see the 2015 recruiting class of Eubanks, Tinkle and Thompson live up to their promise. The fact that there’s not a lot of turnover on the team that played through last season’s misfortune could lend itself to cohesiveness. The Beavers were selected to finish eighth in the Pac-12 preseason poll.
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