Tinkle eyes program ‘recalibration’; but first, a summer trip to Italy
Glenn Taylor Jr. was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team last season (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU athletics)
Every four years, the NCAA allows Division I basketball teams to take a summer trip abroad.
It’s Oregon State’s turn, and Wayne Tinkle’s Beavers are heading for Italy in August.
The Beavers will fly into Milan on Aug. 15 and return home from Rome on Aug 26. In between, there will be plenty of practice time, at least three games and some of the best sight-seeing in Europe.
There’s a personal side to this trip for Tinkle, 56, who played professionally in Europe for more than a decade through the 1990s. Most of the time it was in Spain, but he spent 3 1/2 months in Caserta, Italy.
“We won’t be in Caserta, but going to Italy will bring back memories,” Tinkle tells me. “It was a favorite place of mine. It’s going to be such a cultural and educational experience for the guys. The competition will be great and there’s a lot to do in that country. I’m excited for the guys.”
With no starters and only five squad members returning from last year’s disaster of a season, Tinkle will be tinkering aplenty with his prospective 2022-23 roster on the visit to Bel Paese.
“Perfect timing,” says Tinkle, 116-137 through his eight seasons at the OSU helm. “You talk about building chemistry, and bonding — it couldn’t be better timing.”
A year after a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight, Oregon State belly-flopped, going 3-28 overall and 1-19 in Pac-12 play — the worst record in the program’s 121-year history. It was even worse than the 2016-17 campaign, Tinkle’s third at OSU, when star forward Tres Tinkle (Wayne’s son) was lost to a foot injury and the Beavers stumbled to a 5-27 record.
The Beavers couldn’t shoot, rebound or defend last season. They shot .319 from 3-point range and .709 from the free throw line. They averaged 68.3 points a game and gave up 78.1, the latter figure ranking 336th among the 350 Division-I schools. The Beavers allowed opponents to shoot .479 from the field (341st) and .359 from the 3-point line (303rd). They were outrebounded by an average of nearly six per contest.
A big part of the demise was what Tinkle terms a “culture problem.” Too much selfishness, the coach says. Too little “all-for-one” mentality that he believes was integral to the success of the previous season.
“We lost our culture,” Tinkle insists. “Priority one for next season is getting it back, which we’ve already done with the guys we’ve added.”
Culture, of course, includes the coaches, who recruited the players, set the tone and ostensibly laid down the ground rules by which they were to abide. Tinkle — whose contract runs for five more years — takes the ultimate responsibility for that. His assistants are next.
The staff will take a different look next season. The contract of Kerry Rupp — Tinkle’s long-time lead assistant and right-hand man — was not renewed.
Wayne Tinkle believes he has the horses to rebound from an embarrassing 3-28 campaign in 2021-22 (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU athletics)
“Kerry and I were together for 10 years,” Tinkle says. “After a year like that, you have to make some tough decisions. That was a tough one.”
Tinkle’s other long-time assistant, Stephen Thompson, will be moved to a more administrative role within the program.
“He will handle academics, community outreach, a lot of stuff on campus,” Tinkle says. “He will be the assistant to the head coach and assistant recruiting coordinator.”
A new NCAA rule will allow Thompson to continue to work with players on a limited basis.
“If any of our coaches are on the road recruiting or away for other reasons, he can be the other person on the court,” Tinkle says. “So he will have some coaching responsibilities as well.”
Tinkle has added two assistants, both familiar names — Eric Reveno and Tim Shelton — to join Marlon Stewart, the coaching staff’s only holdover.
Reveno was an assistant at Georgia Tech for the past six years after a 10-year run as head coach at the University of Portland. Reveno — six weeks younger than Tinkle — played against and with the OSU coach on the AAU circuit during their high school years and against each other in college (Reveno at Stanford, Tinkle at Montana). Another connection: Mike Montgomery coached both in college.
“Eric has a very sharp basketball mind, with great recruiting ties nationally and internationally,” Tinkle says. “With his experience, Eric has that voice of confidence in meetings, during timeouts, while working with players. He’ll be a rock to lean on and a great mentor to the young men.”
Shelton, who turns 33 on Friday, is the son of former OSU great Lonnie Shelton.
“He grew up wanting to play for Oregon State,” Tinkle says.
The 6-7, 240-pound Shelton wound up at San Diego State, where he was a reserve forward under Steve Fisher from 2007-12. He served six years as a staff member at his alma mater, the last season as an assistant under Brian Dutcher. Shelton then moved to Fresno State, where he was an assistant for Justin Hutson the past three seasons. Tinkle says he spoke with Fisher, Dutcher and Hutson before hiring Shelton.
“They had nothing but great things to say about Tim,” Tinkle says. “He’s a grinder. He carries himself well. Great knowledge about the game and how to win at our level. His connection to Oregon State is a nice bonus. I was excited to hear his enthusiasm about the potential of coming here. The first day he walked into our training center and saw his dad’s name on the board — he got emotional.
“We’re excited about the staff we have and what they all bring. It’s going to be a lot of energy and positivity moving forward. We’re calling it a recalibration of the program. We know how brutal last year was. We’re going to get back to where we need to be.”
The Beavers’ roster of last season has been all but flipped. Nine of 14 scholarship players are gone, including the top five scorers. No. 1 scorer Jarod Lucas has transferred to Nevada for his senior season. Point guard Dashawn Davis wound up at Mississippi State.
The 2022-23 roster is young and inexperienced, with three seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen. Among the five returnees is 6-6 Glenn Taylor Jr., who made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team as a swashbuckling small forward.
“We let (Taylor) play through some mistakes, and he had a great first season,” Tinkle says. “He lets us coach us and works his tail off every day. We can’t put the weight of the world on him, but when we surround him with the guys we will have next season, we will see continued growth and maturity.”
Dexter Akanno, a 6-5 senior who started 17 games last season, shot only .374 from the field and .303 from 3-point range. Tinkle expects experience will offer better results as Akanno enters his second season in the OSU program.
Perhaps the most important player for next season is Rodrigue Andela, a 6-8, 250-pound senior who played well during the 2020-21 season but missed all but seven games with a broken foot last season. The Beavers need him to be a presence inside.
Beefy Rodrigue Andela is expected to a major threat around the basket for the Beavers next season (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU athletics)
“Rodrigue has had a really good offseason,” Tinkle says. “He is even stronger than he was last season. He has developed his skill level around the basket. He was a quiet leader and glue guy, keeping teammates in check, and we really missed that. We need his leadership next season. He has to get in great physical shape so we can play him more minutes. He has gone from a player who wasn’t sure he could play in the Pac-12 to one who can be a real force.”
Isaiah Johnson, a 6-6 junior who has played sparingly the past two seasons, is the other holdover competing for playing time along with Chol Marial, the 7-2, 220-pound junior transfer from Maryland who was on campus but academically ineligible last season. Marial, who has had surgery to repair a shin injury, has not yet received clearance from the NCAA for next season, but it is expected to soon be made official.
Marial was able to scrimmage with his teammates through the spring.
“He has made great strides,” Tinkle says. “He has to get 100 percent healthy with the shins, but he has gotten comfortable around the basket, and he can be a disrupter at the rim. With Drew (Eubanks) and Kylor (Kelly), we were spoiled. Chol has the potential to be that guy on defense.”
Oregon State’s nine newcomers include four D-I transfers and five incoming freshmen.
Christian Wright, a 6-3, 195-pound point guard from Georgia, averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 assists in 22.1 minutes a game and shot .861 from the foul line while starting 11 games for the Bulldogs. His physicality reminds Tinkle of ex-OSU point guard Malcolm Duvivier.
“Christian got a ton of experience in a very good league (the SEC),” Tinkle says. “He can score, but he’s a pass-first guy who sees the floor well and is a tenacious defender.”
Justin Rochelle, a 6-5, 190-pound shooting guard, redshirted at Arizona State as a freshman last season. He will have three seasons to play at Oregon State. Tinkle recruited him two years ago out of Heritage Christian High in Northridge, Calif.
“Great size, shoots it well and gets it off quick,” Tinkle says. “Out of high school, we compared him to Glenn Taylor, but maybe a better shooter.”
A late addition to the roster is Dzmitry Ryuny, a 6-9, 205-pound native of Belarus who is transferring from the University of San Francisco. Ryuny started and averaged 9.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in 2020-21 but played only sparingly for the Dons last season.
Among the incoming freshmen are a pair of guards and three “bigs.”
The guards are Nick Krass, a 6-4 shooting guard from Gulfport, Miss., and Jordan Pope, a 6-2 point guard from Oakley, Calif.
Krass was first-team all-state and the state’s Player of the Year. He was a four-year starter on St. Patrick Catholic teams that won 105 games.
“Nick is a tough kid who is one of the better shooters we saw in this (recruiting) class,” Tinkle says. “He has the ability to handle, create space and get open. He’s not blowing by you with quickness, but he has some wiggle to his game, and he’s a bulldog defensively.”
Pope was a three-year starter at Prolific Prep, averaging 17.8 points as a senior.
“Jordan has the same kind of poise Ethan Thompson had,” Tinkle says. “He never gets rattled. He has a great hesitation dribble and he can shoot it. You have to honor that and before you know it, he’s by you.”
The most acclaimed player among the “bigs” is Tyler Bilodeau, a 6-9, 220-pound forward from Kamiakin High in Kennewick, Wash. Bilodeau earned the title of “Mr. Washington Basketball” and was state 4A Player of the Year in leading his team to a 22-5 record and fourth place in the state tournament. His father played 12 years of pro hockey.
“Tyler grew up playing hockey with his twin brother,” Tinkle says. “He is a 4/5 who can step out and shoot it from 3. We are blown away by his maturity. He should help us right away.”
One of Bilodeau’s prep foes was Jayden Stevens, a 6-7, 190-pound forward, second-team All-State while averaging 19.4 points and 9.2 rebounds as a senior at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane. Stevens was the leading scorer and named to the 4A All-State Tournament team.
“Jayden was a little under-recruited because he played center,” Tinkle says. “When we saw him with his AAU team, he played more 3 and 4. He is a sneaky good athlete with high basketball IQ. He put the team on his shoulders in the state tournament.”
The X-factor from the recruiting class could be Michael Rataj, a 6-8 forward from Augsburg, Germany who has been a member of his country’s U15, U16 and U18 national teams. He is playing this summer on the German U20 team.
“Michael is one of the top forwards in Europe,” Tinkle says. “He is a bulldog defensively, and gets to the rim and finishes with contact on offense.”
The five freshman arrived in Corvallis the last week of June. The others will all be in town by July 15 for two weeks of training before the trip to Italy. Before you know it, the 2022-23 season will be upon us.
“Our No. 1 goal is to return to our culture,” Tinkle says. “That is being disciplined, hard-nosed defensively, a good rebounding team, one that takes care of the ball and shoots it well.
“We feel like we can return to the top half of the league and compete for post-season play. People aren’t going to expect much of us, but that’s OK. It will give us a little extra motivation. But mostly, we want to prove to ourselves we’re as good as we think we can be.”
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