First impressions of Beaver wrestling and men’s hoops, with quotes, notes and observations …
CORVALLIS — Oregon State basketball is in a better place than it has been for four years.
Beavers load up on internationals, hope it helps reap victories
Long-timers will remember the vendors’ standard line as they hawked programs before college basketball games: “Can’t tell the lineups without a program!”
Johnson pushes plan for men’s basketball collective at Oregon State
Steve Johnson wants to help his alma mater, and he is putting time and effort where his mouth is.
On Beaver basketball’s new look next season — ‘quick improvement’ possible, Tinkle predicts
CORVALLIS — He didn’t sulk. Well, perhaps he did, but for only a moment.
Those bronze statues? On second thought …
Had the news come on April 1, I would have laughed it off as an April Fool’s joke.
‘If there were a Mr. Beaver, it was Jimmy Anderson’
As a head coach at Oregon State, Jimmy Anderson didn’t win as many games as Slats Gill or Ralph Miller or even Wayne Tinkle.
Pope delivers a papal address to Arizona schools
CORVALLIS — It was a banner weekend for Oregon State men’s basketball.
All in a day (plus): A look at men’s and women’s hoops and the gridiron in Beaver country
CORVALLIS — Monday was a busy day for sports on the Oregon State campus. I was there to sniff out information of interest to readers of kerryeggers.com.
Lapped in the race? Dam Nation doing its best to prevent it
Tim Shelton’s hit-and-run farewell to Oregon State came in a June 14 article in The Oregonian.
New season, solid returnees: Tinkle sees better things on horizon
It has been a rough two years for Wayne Tinkle following Oregon State’s Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in 2021.
Another Shelton seeks to make his mark at Oregon State
CORVALLIS — The name “Shelton” means something in this city.
Lots to like among the collection of Oregon State Rooks
Wayne Tinkle’s roller-coaster ride over the past three years with Oregon State basketball has been a Goliath/Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, Calif.)
Making it big in health clubs and wine, Saxton now wants to hoop it up
Steve Saxton would like to be head coach of the men’s basketball program at Oregon State.
It’s a full day of basketball, and Pilots steal the show
Notes and observations from an almost full Friday of basketball at the Phil Knight college tournaments (sorry, missed Oregon’s near upset of No. 12-ranked Michigan State.
Tinkle eyes program ‘recalibration’; but first, a summer trip to Italy
Every four years, the NCAA allows Division I basketball teams to take a summer trip abroad.
Wayne Tinkle after season to forget: ‘We’re going to try to fix it now’
By all accounts, Oregon State’s men’s basketball season was a disaster.
During a very difficult 2021, it was a very good first year
A first full year is in the books for kerryeggers.com after my retirement after 45 years in the newspaper in April 2020.
First, thanks to all of you for being subscribers. I appreciate all the feedback we have received, both as responses to be published on the website and others of a personal nature.
Tinkle begins work with ‘deep roster’ as Oregon State basketball prepares for 2021-22 campaign
Once a college athletic program climbs a mountain, the trek doesn’t end. In some cases, it is only getting started.
That’s what Wayne Tinkle hopes is happening with Oregon State basketball.
Tinkle, soon to begin his eighth season at the OSU helm, will be coming in off the glow of a remarkable late-season run that saw the Beavers reach the Elite Eight in March.
After starting the regular season 11-10, Oregon State reeled off nine victories in 11 games — including three straight to rule the Pac-12 post-season tournament and subsequent wins over Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Loyola Chicago in the NCAA Tournament — before finally being eliminated 67-61 by Houston a step from the Final Four.
The Beavers, who claimed the first Pac-12 Tournament title in program history, became the second No. 12 seed ever to reach the Elite Eight in their first trip there since 1982. They finished the season ranked 20th in the final Coaches’ Poll, the first time they have been ranked in any poll since March 1990, when they were No. 22 in the Associated Press rankings. At 20-13, it marked the second time since 1990 the Beavers have reached 20 wins.
Offering a final salute to the legacy of Bud Ossey: ‘He went out on top’
I thought Bud Ossey would live forever.
I don’t really mean that, of course. Forever isn’t in the cards for anybody.
But after 101 very solid years on the planet, with his health reasonably stable and his intestinal fortitude beyond mortal levels, I figured those who called him friends — and there were so many of us — would be lucky enough to have him around for at least a couple of more years.
On Aldridge’s retirement, the Trail Blazers’ lot in life, Tinkle’s contract, OSU women’s hoops, Transfer portal, Duck and Beaver baseball and other things on my mind …
Some (relatively) quick hitters about subjects on my mind in the sporting world …
• Item: LaMarcus Aldridge retires after 15 NBA seasons after experiencing a heart irregularity.
• Comment: Aldridge had played five games with Brooklyn after a buyout by San Antonio and signing as a free agent with the Nets. He had played well, starting and scoring 22 points in 23 minutes in a blowout win over New Orleans.
But after experiencing an irregular heartbeat during the Nets’ game against the Lakers last Saturday and some complications the following day, Aldridge chose to call it a career.