On Beaver basketball’s new look next season — ‘quick improvement’ possible, Tinkle predicts

Sophomore guard Josiah Lake, once a walk-on but now a scholarship player, epitomizes what Beaver basketball stands for, says Coach Wayne Tinkle (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

CORVALLIS — He didn’t sulk. Well, perhaps he did, but for only a moment. After losing eight players to the transfer portal and an assistant coach from Oregon State’s 2023-24 team that had no seniors, Wayne Tinkle went right to work.

Two months after the season ended, the Beavers’ 2024-25 roster is complete as they head into their first campaign in the West Coast Conference. Six returning scholarship players will be joined by seven recruits — three seniors, a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen.

Tinkle went United Nations, landing four international players. He went backcourt for two veteran guards with impressive resumes. He went big, with recruits 7-1, 6-11 and 6-9. He even went big with his new assistant, Chris Haslam, who stands 6-9, allowing the 6-10 Tinkle to retain the tallest coaching staff in Division 1 basketball.

Tinkle lost his two best players by far — 6-2 guard Jordan Pope and 6-9 forward Tyler Bilodeau — to Texas and UCLA, respectively. While each received more NIL money than they would have gotten at Oregon State next season, the lure of landing at programs with a history of winning big was the main appeal. (Sources say Pope and Bilodeau got something less than the half-million dollars that has been reported, and that Oregon State offered in the $200,000 to $250,000 range).

Gone, too, are six others, including starters Dexter Akanno and KC Ibekwe. Collectively, the eight departures accounted for 80.3 percent of the Beavers’ scoring and 69.5 percent of their rebounds a year ago.

But besides Pope and Bilodeau — two of the better returning players on the West Coast — OSU’s losses can be easily replaced. Tinkle believes the incoming talent has the potential to be a serious upgrade from the group that went 13-19 overall and 5-15 in Pac-12 play.

“It has put us in a situation where we can make quick improvement,” says Tinkle who will be in his 11th season as the Beavers’ head coach in 2024-25. “The hard thing is, we committed to a young group. We took some losses the last couple of years knowing it was going to pay off. Then the plane blew up.

“So we are going in a new direction. We are excited with the guys we have coming back, but also with the guys we have signed. We have guys from everywhere. Good kids, good players. We can’t wait until we have them all together.”

The lone returning starter is 6-9, 220-pound junior-to-be Michael Rataj, the German native who averaged 8.3 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds as a sophomore. Rataj had shin surgery late last summer, “and he never got back to 100 percent,” Tinkle says. “He didn’t have the same pop.”

Junior forward Michael Rataj, the only returning starter, is projected as a team leader for Oregon State in 2024-24 (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

This spring, Rataj has been kept away from full-contact scrimmages and has focused on rehab.

“We are excited to have Mike leading the group of guys coming back,” Tinkle says. “We are putting a lot on him to help meld the new guys as well.”

A returnee who might have been a starter if not for injury last season is Nate Meithof, a 6-5, 190-pound transfer from Southern Idaho by way of McNary High who redshirted last season following ACL knee surgery in the summer. Former Beaver great Roberto Nelson — now OSU’s player development director — calls Meithof’s work ethic “among the best I’ve seen. You don’t ever have to worry about the guy shortcutting a drill.”

“Nate did a great job rehabbing and working in the weight room this past year,” Tinkle says. “When you miss a year, you need time to get the touch and feel back. But he is an unbelievable kid who can play both guard positions. He can shoot it, and he is a great defender and rebounder. He is going to be a pretty big piece for us.”

Josiah Lake has a scholarship now after walking on and making the rotation straight out of Tualatin High. The 6-2, 175-pound sophomore shot .527 from the field, .381 from 3-point range and .843 from the foul line and led Oregon State with 30 steals despite playing only 15.2 minutes per game.

“Josiah embodied everything we stand for — the grit and desire,” Tinkle says. “Nothing will surprise us about him next season.”

DaJohn Craig showed early flashes during his freshman season, too, but played little once conference play began. The 6-1, 160-pound sophomore has some offensive skills the Beavers could have dearly used at times last season.

“Josiah and DC have to put in work in the weight room,” Tinkle says. “They will have to catch up physically to some of the guys we’re bringing in. But they will continue to get their opportunities.”

The other returnees are sophomore bigs Gavin Marrs and Thomas Ndong. Coaches considered redshirting the 7-foot, 200-pound Marrs last season, but “we wanted him to learn how to compete every day in practice for playing time,” Tinkle says. Marrs wound up playing 96 minutes, scoring 15 points with 18 rebounds. He has springy legs and can run the court.

“His skill level and athleticism are up there,” Tinkle says. “We saw a different level of fight in him the second half of the season. Now, hopefully he’ll put on some size and strength.”

The 6-10, 245-pound Ndong was in the rotation the first half of last season but suffered a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss six weeks. He played sparingly down the stretch, finishing with averages of 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.0 minutes a contest.

“He is a big, physical guy with potential,” Tinkle says. “We want him doing a lot of dirty work on the interior. This is a big offseason for both Thomas and Gavin.”

The marquis players among the recruits are senior guards Damarco Minor and Tyler Cochran, both starters for D-I programs a year ago.

Minor, a 6-foot, 190-pound transfer from Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, was first-team All-Ohio Valley League as a junior, leading the Cougars in points, rebounds and assists. He averaged 15.5 points and a remarkable 8.5 rebounds. “I thought that must be a misprint,” Tinkle says.

Minor shot only .397 from the field and .315 from 3-point territory but was an excellent .862 from the foul line on a team that went 17-16 overall and 9-9 in conference play.

“Damarco has to improve his shooting, but watching his game video, he got the ball at the end of the shot clock and had to jack something up a lot,” Tinkle says. “He has a good stroke. He was lined up to do a lot for that team. Lightening that load will help him.

“He is a tenacious defender who loves getting his nose in there — kind of like GP (Gary Payton) II did for us. We lacked a little physicality, a little toughness on the perimeter last year. Damarco is a vocal leader, which we haven’t had at our guard spots for the last couple of years. The combination of Damarco and Tyler will be voices out there and they will set the tone.”

Cochran, a 6-2, 225-pound transfer from Toledo, was Mid-American Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year and second-team all-league last season, averaging 14.4 points and 5.9 rebounds. He shot .495 and .346 from the 3-point line and had a conference-leading 1.9 steals per game for a team that went 20-12 and won the conference regular-season title at 14-4. Cochran is with his fourth program in five college seasons, starting at Northern Illinois, then transferring to Ball State before winding up at Toledo.

“Tyler is a big, strong two-way player,” Tinkle says. “When he is dialed in, he is a difference-maker. With Damarco, Tyler and Nate, we have some toughness and physicality we didn’t have in the backcourt a year ago.”

The other incoming senior is Matthew Marsh, a 7-1 265-pound center from Cornwall, England, who has played three years at Wake Forest. As a sophomore in 2022-23, Marsh made an incredible 83 of 94 (.883) attempts from the field, but was only 18 for 43 (.419) from the free-throw line, averaging 6.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18.2 minutes. He played sparingly last season, shooting .680 (17-for-25) but averaging only 1.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10.3 minutes for the Deacons, who went 21-14 overall and 11-9 in the ACC.

“Matt is a great rim-runner and dunker who gets off the ground quick,” Tinkle says. “He wants to develop more back-to-the-basket scoring skills to go along with his ability to get to the rim.”

The other two new bigs are Parse Fallah, a 6-9, 250-pound junior from Southern Utah by way of Amon, Iran, and 6-11, 220-pound freshman Johan Munch from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Fallah averaged 13.2 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting .570 from the field for the Thunderbirds, who went 10-21 last season.

“He has good back-to-the-basket skills with great footwork,” Tinkle says. “Last year, we had hoped somebody would emerge who we could throw it to on the post consistently. He will be a guy who can do it. Parse just got married last week. He and Matt are two mature, physical, athletic guys down there for us.”

Munch competed for Denmark at the 2023 U18 FIBA European Championships, averaging 15 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting .532 from the field and .478 from beyond the arc in the tournament.

“We thought with a young kid who has that much skill, we gotta jump on it,” Tinkle says. “He has to get stronger, but we are real happy to have him.”

The other two recruits are 6-7 swing men — sophomore Isaiah Sy from Marseilles, France, and freshman Ja’Quavis Williford from Tampa, Fla.

Sy averaged 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds for Cloud County (Kan.) CC last season, shooting .479 from the field and .471 from 3-point range for a team that went 21-11 overall and 15-9 in league play. He played sixth man but averaged 26.2 minutes. Haslam, who coached at Utah State last season, was recruiting Sy for the Aggies.

“We had a weakness shooting from the perimeter last season,” Tinkle says. Sy will help with that. He is a great shooter, rebounds relentlessly and can become a good defender with his length.”

Williford played last season at Red Rock Academy in Las Vegas, leading the team in scoring while earning a top-50 ranking nationally at his position. He signed with St. Louis University before getting his release to come to OSU.

“He is built kind of like Tres (Tinkle), slender with long arms,” Tinkle says. “High basketball IQ, really competes, can handle the ball. He has a chance to make a pretty good impact right away.”

Haslam was hired to replace Eric Reveno, who left to take an assistant coaching job at his alma mater, Stanford. Haslam spent 10 years as assistant at Montana State, then moved to Utah State last year, where the Aggies went 28-7 and won an NCAA tournament game. He has coached in three straight NCAA tourneys— also with Montana State in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Tinkle met Haslam while he was the head coach at Montana.

“Chris’ first year at Montana State was my last year at Montana,” Tinkle says. “We stayed in touch. I wanted a guy who has had success in developing bigs. Chris has had several great ones. He recruited good players and helped develop them. His network recruiting-wise both internationally and here in the States is very valuable. He fits right in.”

When I ask Tinkle about how difficult is it going to be to develop cohesion with this group, he nods.

“It’s the first thing you think of when you bring in so many players who will take on key roles,” he says. “We were just talking about it in our staff meeting. Do we take them camping? Do we go paint-balling?

“No. 1, they need to play a lot together. They need to be in here playing pickup at least four days a week, getting a feel for each other. We have drills that will help bring some of that along, but we will have to spend a little extra thought on what we can do off the court to help these guys come together.”

It has been a difficult three seasons since the Beavers’ magical ride to the Elite Eight in 2020-21. There was the disastrous 3-28 campaign in 2021-22, followed by rebuilding seasons of 11-21 in 2022-23 and the 13-19 mark a year ago.

With the disintegration of the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington State move to the WCC for at least the next two seasons. The Beavers were in the Pac-12 cellar in 2023-24, but they should be much more competitive in the WCC, which is top-heavy with good teams but weak on the bottom half. Few of the WCC programs possess size like the Beavers will have next season.

“It’s a great time for us and Washington State to join the league,” Tinkle says. “There are some programs that didn’t have great success that are going through some changes, so you’ll probably see improvement there next season. There are some very good teams at the top, some great coaches, some great players.”

Last season, Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga, San Francisco and Santa Clara were all 20-win teams and sat atop the WCC standings. Tinkle believes Oregon State will be able to compete with them.

“With the players we are adding, we hope to be able to compete for championships,” Tinkle says. “We want to make a splash and get back to our winning ways. We have a lot of new pieces. We think we are going to jump right back to where we were a handful of years ago, making a chase for the postseason.”

Tinkle has three years remaining on his contract. There is some pressure on him to win after three straight losing seasons. When I suggest he is a man of pride, he shakes his head.

“More than pride, it’s competitiveness,” Tinkle says. “I’m competitive. It has been a frustrating few years. We thought we saw signs that we were headed in the right direction and then it was taken from us.

“You don’t drown in your sorrows. The coaching staff has been great. Chris adds new energy and enthusiasm. The recruiting has gone really well. On paper, we should be good. As coaches, we have to make sure the guys are ready to go next fall.”

NOTES: Besides Pope (Texas) and Bilodeau (UCLA), Ibekwe is headed for Washington, Chol Marial for San Jose State and Jayden Stevens for Idaho State next season. Akanno, Justin Rochelin and Christian Wright have yet to declare … None of OSU’s new recruits are attending spring term classes but all will be on campus by July 8. Tinkle and his staff will have six to seven weeks to work with the entire team, with four hours a week devoted to basketball and four hours to strength and conditioning. … Tinkle and Oregon coach Dana Altman have agreed to continue the Civil War series with a single game each year for the next four years. Tinkle says the schedule has yet to be set but that the games will alternate between Corvallis and Eugene. … the Pac-12 had seven teams and the WCC only three among the top 100 in last season’s final NET rankings among the nation’s 362 Division-I programs. Among Pac-12 teams, Arizona was No. 4, Colorado No. 25, WSU No. 44, Utah No. 48, Oregon No. 59, Washington No. 70 and USC No. 88. After that, UCLA was No. 107, Stanford No. 113, California No. 128, Arizona State No. 134 and OSU 165. In the WCC, Saint Mary’s was No. 16, Gonzaga No. 17, USF No. 66, Santa Clara No. 105, Loyola-Marymount No. 199, Pepperdine No. 226, San Diego No. 254, Portland No. 295 and Pacific No. 359. The top conference in the region? It was easily the Mountain West, with six of the nation’s top-38-ranked programs.

Tinkle acknowledges how different it is with the advent of the transfer portal and NIL. “It’s a new era of college basketball,” he says. “We are trying to wrap our arms around it. The programs with a bunch of money in their collective are reaping benefits. It is happening all across the country. You see guys leaving top-five teams. It is a new challenging space that we are all trying to navigate.” Only a few years ago, building a program at OSU was different. “It was all about developing guys out of high school and building relationships and taking what their parents started and building on it,” Tinkle says. “It was about having great young men earn their degrees and reach their full potential as players. But more importantly, it was about developing a skill set to become great husbands and fathers and contributors to their communities. So much of that is taken out of it now. It’s so transactional. The tough thing is, where does loyalty lie on either side? It can’t be a one-way street. It has to be a two-way street or it’s not there at all.” Initially, Tinkle liked the idea of his players benefitting from Name, Image and Likeness. “I thought it was going to be about selling a kid’s jersey with his name on it, autograph sessions, doing commercials for businesses,” Tinkle says. “I didn’t expect it to become simple payouts. People ask whether it’s sustainable. We’ll see. I would think it has to have some guardrails on the future.”

Oregon State’s collective, “Dam Nation,” had a hand in helping Tinkle land all of his recruits this season. No money was offered before anyone signed, but there were assurances the players would be taken care of. “Now we are allowed by the NCAA to participate and educate through the recruiting process,” says Kyle Bjornstad, Dam Nation’s executive director, who spoke with and answered questions from all seven of the recruits. “We have talked to them, explained the collective and told them, ‘This is what we are able to do. If you come to Oregon State, they are going to get opportunities.’ They are all going to get opportunities.”

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