With Ron Callan and Jim Wilson, offering our favorite Beaver athletes ever…
Note to readers: Jim Wilson and Ron Callan will serve as occasional guest columnists on my website. The Oregon State broadcasters’ first offering is a list of each’s top five favorite Beaver athletes to watch through the years. That’s not necessarily the best players, but the ones they most enjoyed watching at their craft.
Jim Wilson
Wilson, who played both football and baseball at OSU, has been watching Beaver sports since his childhood growing up in Corvallis in the 1960’s and ‘70s. Mike Parker’s popular analyst for football and baseball is in his 17th year on the OSU radio crew.
Ron Callan
Callan is a native of Napa, Calif. His first Beaver game was a football matchup with Stanford at Parker Stadium in 1971 while he was a student at Linfield. Ron began coverage of the Beavers while doing radio work in Portland in 2004. The veteran of 46 years in the sportscasting industry started work at OSU as a radio sideline reporter and pre- and post-game host in football in 2007 and as women’s basketball radio play-by-play voice in 2008.
Like Wilson, I’m a Corvallis native. My first memories watching Oregon State sports were of Tommy Prothro’s football teams and Slats Gill’s basketball teams in the early ’60s.
So here we go, each of us delivering our own thoughts:
RON CALLAN
1. Gary Payton (basketball 1986-90)
Payton turned everyone's head during his days at Oregon State. He had a tremendous career in Corvallis. I never met Gary until he arrived in Seattle as the second pick in the 1990 NBA draft. He was a Hall of Fame NBA player who was a huge difference-maker for the Sonics.
My most vivid memories of Gary are from the 1993 season. Payton and Shawn Kemp were the catalyst to get Seattle to game seven of the NBA Western Conference finals against Phoenix. To get there, the Sonics eliminated Utah in five games in the first round. John Stockton and Karl Malone were the duo every media outlet was touting at the start of the series. But it was the "Sonic Boom" combo of Payton and Kemp that got them to the West semifinals against Houston.
They teamed up to beat the Rockets in seven, capped by a game seven overtime win. The heartbreak for Gary and the Sonics came in the Western Conference finals against the Suns. The finale may have been ugliest game in NBA history. The officials ruined the game. Seattle made 28 of 36 free throws. Phoenix made 57 of 64. Are you kidding me?
Payton play in the NBA Finals against the Bulls in 1996. Payton was cordial after most games and would usually agree to chat. But sometimes he would sneak out and avoid reporters like me looking for a good sound bite to enhance the story.
He will go down as an Oregon State icon who brought so much joy to Beaver fans. In 2009, we had the first of many reunions on the sidelines at the Las Vegas Bowl. He said he remembered me, which was a nice ego boost on one of the coldest sidelines of my career!
2. Dick Fosbury, track and field (1965-69)
My dad, Ace, was born in Medford in 1923. I turned 15 in January 1968, and some time during that spring Dad asked, “Have you heard of Dick Fosbury, the high jumper?"
I don't remember if I said I had heard of him, but I do remember being on the track at Napa High soon after, screwing around with friends at the high jump pit. We were practicing the "Fosbury Flop.”
No doubt, Dick Fosbury was the most influential high jumper in track and field history, transforming a sport with his famous "back first" technique. We all watched on TV when he won the gold medal with a jump of 7-4 1/4 in Mexico City in ’68. At the Munich Olympics four years later, 28 of the 40 men in the high jump competition were using the flop.
I have had a number of chances to chat with Dick. In October 2018, Oregon State unveiled a statue of him performing the “Fosbury Flop” in his honor. I went to the ceremony with legendary Beaver fan Bud Ossey, who was at the Mexico City games as a spectator. Fosbury delivered a nice speech that day and we had a chance to let him relive his greatest moment.
Sydney Wiese of the LA Sparks (from Sydney’s Twitter account @swiesebaby24)
3. Sydney Wiese, women’s basketball (2013-17)
When it comes to Oregon State women's basketball, there are so many players I could be writing about. Coach Scott Rueck has transformed this program into a national power.
Ali Gibson, Jamie Weisner, Ruth Hamblin, Gabby Hanson, Deven Hunter, Marie Gulich and Mikayla Pivec all were part of Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight or Final Four teams in recent years. But Wiese was the catalyst to transform the Beavers from contenders to champions.
Syd was dynamic on and off the court. People couldn't get enough of her energy, drive and tremendous basketball skills. She is also Oregon State’s career record-holder in 3-point show made.
Look at her accomplishments since she graduated from OSU. She is entering year four with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and recently picked up a contract extension. The Sparks see her as an ambassador for the sport, which is the way she was in Corvallis.
Syd is also a hoot to talk to. Recently, I had the starting five for the Final Four team on a podcast, and she was awesome!
Since I broadcast the Oregon State women's games, I go to practices and shootarounds. In December 2014, we were in Knoxville, It was a great opportunity to play against the Volunteers. During a practice, Wiese challenged me to a game of H-O-R-S-E ( or maybe I challenged her). She didn't realize that I have a host of trick shots I pull out when needed. I had her on the ropes at H-O-R-S when she said...."opposite-hand 3-pointer with your eyes closed!" She nailed the next two shots and I was humbled and impressed.
Syd is the ultimate competitor and the Oregon State athlete who helped make her sport one of the most exciting at OSU. The women's game has changed so much. Sydney Wiese is an example of the right way to get things done.
4. Jordan Poyer (football 2009-12)
A couple of weeks ago, I had Jordan Poyer on my NBC Sports Northwest podcast. I am so impressed with the way he has conducted himself throughout his football career.
How many athletes from Astoria, Oregon, were drafted by a major league baseball team and by an NFL team? In fact, Jordan had some tough choices to make at Astoria. When he was a freshman, he helped the Fishermen win a state 3A championship in baseball. As a senior, they won the state title in football, with Poyer leading the way.
He was drafted that June in the 42nd round of the MLB draft by the Florida Marlins. However, he went to Oregon State and played football, though he had 12 at-bats in baseball playing for Coach Pat Casey during the 2011 season. Poyer was an outstanding safety for Mike Riley and had seven interceptions in 2012 his senior season.
A seventh-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012, Jordan never really found a home in the NFL until he signed with Buffalo in 2017. He has been a three-year starter and recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Bills.
The thing that makes Jordan special is the fact he grew up in tiny Astoria, but has never been intimidated by whatever challenge is in front of him.
With Oregon State football, he was a leader and a player who looks out for his teammates. He also remembers his roots, holding the "Jordan Poyer Basketball Camp" every summer in Astoria.
5. Johnny Hekker (football 2008-11)
In terms of the NFL, Hekker is one of the most successful Oregon State players in history. The kid from Bothell (Wash.) High is a four-time first-team and two-time second-team All-Pro punter who owns the Super Bowl record for longest punt (65 yards).
Hekker might also be the most successful fake punt/fake placekick passer in NFL history. Johnny, who holds for placekicks, has completed 13 of 22 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown in his eight pro seasons. You could make the argument that he is the NFL’s “Renaissance Man” at the punter position.
How many punters have been named the MVP of a college bowl game? We witnessed it in El Paso in 2008 when the Beavers and Pittsburgh played in the wind and Oregon State won 3-0. Hekker averaged 45 yards on 10 punts to win the award.
What I like most about Hekker is his love for the game of football and that fact he doesn't forget his roots. A couple of seasons ago, I was at the Seahawks-Rams game in Seattle. After a blowout win by the Rams, I went into the locker room. Hekker saw me and gave me a big high five and started talking to me about the Beavers. Then he and Sean Mannion — who was with the Rams at the time — teamed up for a nice interview.
Honorable mention
Football: Brandin Cooks (the most exciting Oregon State receiver I’ve seen) and Steven Jackson (had all the tools to make it in the NFL and proved it).
Baseball: Adley Rutschman (G.O.A.T? Can’t wait to see him at the next level and Michael Conforto (he has only improved from his days at Goss Stadium).
Basketball: Mikayla Pivec (most versatile women’s player in OSU history)
JIM WILSON
1. Lonnie Shelton (basketball 1973-76)
A list of the greatest basketball players in Oregon State history would likely include at least a mention of Lonnie Shelton. A list of the best athletes (size, strength, quickness) in Beaver lore starts with Shelton. At 6-8 and somewhere north of 260 pounds, Shelton was an All-American in both football and track (discus thrower) at Foothill High in Bakersfield, Calif., and could have gone to any school in the country to play on the gridiron. But he wanted to play basketball — and the Beavers got a steal.
Shelton was clearly the strongest and most physical player on Ralph Miller’s teams of the mid-‘70s, but what separated him was his quickness — not just laterally, stop and go — but jumping. I used to love watching the opening tip of each game when Shelton would win the tip over the likes of Bill Walton (UCLA), James Edwards (Washington) and Rich Kelley (Stanford).
Beaver fans got their first look at Shelton during the preseason scrimmage his freshman season that pitted the newcomers versus the “old heads.” Miller knew what he was doing as Shelton was clearly the best player on the floor and absolutely dominated veteran Steve Ericksen in the paint.
Lonnie played for the Beavers from 1973-76. That means I was an impressionable young teen sitting on the Gill Coliseum floor when Shelton dunked late in a 75-58 rout of third-ranked UCLA as a junior in 1976. Mind you, dunking was not allowed at the time and Shelton drew the ire of Miller along with a technical foul — but it was worth it!
As a young Beaver fan at the time, I knew every time Lonnie played a game that he was the best athlete on the floor — and he was on our team.
Shelton went on to a 10-year NBA career, which included an All-Star game start and an NBA championship. He passed away due to complications from a heart attack in 2018. With his passing went one of my favorite athletes of all time and the best athlete, in my opinion, to play any sport at Oregon State.
2. Sydney Wiese (women’s basketball 2013-17)
Wiese made me a fan of women’s basketball at Oregon State. Under Scott Rueck, the program has become a perennial top-15 team that plays in front of sellout crowds at Gill Coliseum. I’m not sure how much of that success can be attributed to Wiese, but she is the reason I am a fan of the women’s program.
Wiese came to Oregon State from Phoenix, where she played for her dad. She went on to set OSU school records for assists and 3-point field goals made and was a four-time All-Pac-12 selection. She was the 11th pick of the 2017 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks and is heading into her third season.
But that’s not why she’s on this list.
Sydney was an absolute joy to watch; she was like a coach on the floor — directing traffic, smiling, leading, seemingly in perpetual motion the entire game. As a point guard, opponents tried to deny her the ball. So she just ran defenders through a picket fence of screens and eventually would wind up with the ball in her hands. At the end of tight games, Wiese would take over. Instead of looking to pass, she would score and the Beavers would win!
As good as Wiese was during the game, she was even better afterward. Beaver players would stay on the floor to sign autographs, take pictures, mingle with fans. And she was as likeable and gracious as any player I have ever watched.
Wiese has that rare combination of talent, leadership, likeability and graciousness. And she openly displayed all of those traits every time she hit the floor and has become an ambassador for the great things happening at Oregon State.
3. James Rodgers (football 2007-11)
Rodgers arrived on campus with little fanfare. He did not have great high school credentials and was a mere two-star recruit. Seemingly, the lure was that his younger brother Jacquizz was one of the most heralded running back recruits in the state of Texas and that having James might help recruit Lil Bro’.
Before taking the field his freshman year he became an instant favorite with his big smile and “yes sir” answers to the media. Soon thereafter, he started embarrassing would-be-tacklers, and a star was born.
Everybody knew James was fast — he ran a 10.45 100 in high school — but nobody expected him to run THROUGH tacklers the way he did. Coach Mike Riley recognized Rodgers’ ability and installed the fly sweep to give Rodgers a chance to carry the ball; on that play alone, he carried the ball 50 times for 586 yards during his career. The highlight of his freshman year came in the final regular season game at Autzen Stadium when James took a fly sweep handoff and raced 25 yards for the winning score in a 38-31 overtime win over the Ducks.
That was great, but even more impressive was watching Rodgers’ Beaver career evolve as he managed to get better each season. In his sophomore season, James became more of a threat as a receiver and added punt and kickoff duties to his arsenal. His junior season, he caught 91 passes in addition to his fly sweep and return duties.
Sometimes you have to lose something to really appreciate it. That’s what happened in what was supposed to be James’ senior season. In the Beavers’ fifth game of the 2010 season in Tucson, Rodgers hurt his knee while hauling in a touchdown pass. Though he was granted a medical redshirt year and would come back the following season, he just wasn’t the same. It made me realize just how good he had been.
In the end, James set the Oregon State career record with 6,373 all-purpose yards and became the first Beaver to account for more than 1,000 yards rushing and 2,000 receiving yards in his career. In 2018, he was added to Jonathan Smith’s staff as the director of player development.
Mickey and Jack Riley (from the Mickey Riley Foundation website.
4. Mickey Riley (baseball 1980-83)
This selection was easy to make. Riley was my favorite Beaver teammate and contributed more to my personal athletic success than anybody I know. In addition to being a teammate at Oregon State, Mickey was my roommate throughout my Beaver playing days, a childhood friend, and his son Healy was born the same day as my twin daughters.
Mickey first moved to Corvallis in 1973 when his dad, Jack, was named as the Beavers' baseball skipper. I first met Mickey at a flag football tryout that year and we became friends for life.
At 5-5 and 135 pounds, Mickey managed to start at OSU for four years and earn All-Pac-10 accolades in 1982 as a switch-hitting second baseman. He excelled defensively, was a great baserunner and was an absolute pest at the plate. He had exceptional bunting skills, rarely struck out and walked a bunch; he still ranks No. 5 on the Beavers’ career walks chart with 118.
But his contributions as a teammate are what separated Mickey. He was like another coach on the field — not just barking orders, but understanding team dynamics, giving small cues to players and recognizing egos and personalities. He dedicated his efforts to winning the game. He helped me become a professional baseball player by showing me how to prepare and the nuances of the game.
As laser-focused as Mickey was on the field, he was the complete opposite off the field. Easy-going, soft-spoken and extremely witty, he had a twinkle in his eye and was always a quick quip away from making folks smile. Mickey was everybody’s friend.
Mickey passed away in 2011 at the age of 51 after a six year battle with ALS. With a group of old friends, we established the Mickey Riley Foundation aimed at keeping his name alive. I have found that endeavor to be one of my most rewarding experiences. Mickey was a great Beaver and an even better friend.
5. Matt Moore (football 2005-06)
In my position as analyst for Oregon State football, I have often been asked who I believe was the best Beaver quarterback of the modern era. My answer is Matt Moore.
Moore was gifted physically, blessed with great size, incredible arm strength and superior athleticism. As a junior in high school at Newhall, Calif., he intercepted 10 passes as a safety. In 2004, he was drafted in the 22nd round of the major league baseball draft despite not playing baseball for three years.
As a quarterback at Oregon State, he just needed to find himself, and he did just that in his senior season, transforming himself from a care-free athlete to a fiery team leader with a confident swagger.
OSU was not Matt’s first choice out of high school. The four-star quarterback inked with UCLA, but after two years in Westwood, he transferred to a junior college and ultimately ended up in Corvallis.
Moore arrived in ‘05 and was immediately anointed the starting quarterback. During the Beaver’s preseason Media Day, play-by-play announcer Mike Parker and I interviewed Moore. It was obvious the kid was ultra-confident. He arrived at the table, hat on backwards, sunglasses intact. He sat down and plopped his feet up on the table. Mike and I asked the usual stuff and he popped out the usual answers.
Fast forward to year two. Moore arrived at the media table, removed his hat, took off his sunglasses, greeted each media member individually and proceeded to answer each question with deep thought, a humble undertone and a determined mindset. As Parker and I walked away, we were thinking the same thing — this guy is ready to be a leader.
In his junior season in ‘05, Moore’s individual numbers were solid but the team struggled to a 5-6 record. And when the ‘06 team started the season 2-3, there were grumblings. But Moore and the Beavers won eight of their last nine games to finish 10-4, including wins over No. 3-ranked USC, Oregon and No. 24-ranked Hawaii and then Missouri in the Sun Bowl.
Despite playing just two seasons, Moore’s name can be found in the Beaver record books in several major categories. He holds the mark for the most consecutive passes without an interception (182), a record that looked vulnerable last year until Jake Luton threw an interception on his 182nd pass.
Moore went on to play over 10 seasons in the NFL and just last year came out of retirement to win a Super Bowl championship as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Honorable mention
Stephen Paea being interviewed on the sidelines by Ron Callan.
Football: Stephen Paea (one of my favorites after one spring practice. Physical freak with explosive burst like no other), Al Afalava (safety was a heat-seeking missile who would pick up penalties for hitting opponents too hard) and Jacquizz Rodgers (older brother James set the bar extremely high and “Quizz” did not disappoint).
Basketball: Lester Conner (he looked like he was having a blast and was best on the defensive end), Brent Barry (all I remember is one dunk against USC in Gill) and Mikayla Pivec (great player and a better person).
Baseball: Michael Conforto (he was the best hitter on campus by the time he was a freshman, but I appreciated the outfield assists).
Kerry Eggers
1. Terry Baker (football and basketball 1959-63)
There has never been an athlete like Baker in the school’s history — not many at any college, really. The 1962 Heisman Trophy winner as Oregon State’s quarterback was also starting guard for the Beavers’ 1963 Final Four team in basketball. And he could have been a starting pitcher on Ralph Coleman’s baseball team had he so chosen — he was that good an athlete.
There are too many stories to tell about Baker, who was an outstanding runner in football — with breakaway speed — and good enough as a passer to keep opposing defenses honest. He threw the football left-handed and the baseball right-handed, a fact that continues to amaze me.
Terry was a humble young man and, of course, the hero of every boy growing up in Corvallis at that time. My father, John, was the sports information director at OSU and grew close to Terry. When I was eight, Dad invited Terry over to our house for dinner one evening, which was like a visit from President Kennedy to me and my younger brother, Brent.
After Terry left a rain hat in our closet that night, I took to wearing it. When Dad told him about it, Terry laughed and said I could keep the hat. I wore it nearly every day until one OSU football Saturday, when the hat was knocked from my head in a crowded entry way before a game at Parker. Somebody made off with it, and I was crushed.
Dad mentioned it to Terry. A week or two later, I received a package in the mail — a new rain hat, nicer than the first one, as a gift from Baker. This, mind you, from a 21-year-old senior in college.
That’s what I call maturity — and class.
2. Freddie Boyd (basketball 1969-72)
Freddie, a smooth, sweet-shooting 6-2 point guard who was recruited by Paul Valenti and played his final two seasons for Ralph Miller, is one of the more underrated OSU athletes ever. He flourished in Miller’s open, free-wheeling system, averaging 17.8 points and 6.8 assists as a junior and 19.8 points and 6.6 assists as a senior, earning first-team All-Pac-8 honors the latter season.
I loved watching Boyd outplay rivals such as UCLA’s Henry Bibby, Stanford’s Claude Terry, Washington’s Louie Nelson and Charles Dudley and USC’s Paul Westphal and Danny Anderson in a conference stacked with outstanding backcourt players. And Freddie did it in an understated way, never trying to call attention to himself.
Boyd was the fifth pick in the 1972 NBA draft and was first-team All-Rookie during a 1972-73 for a dreadful Philadelphia 76ers team that went 9-73 — the worst ever until the Charlotte Bobcats turned in a 7-59 mark in 2011-12. Maybe there was psychological damage done there, because Freddie’s career never seemed to take off, and he was out of the NBA by age 27.
It never diminished my feelings about him as a player. Man, was he fun to watch.
3. Loy Peterson (basketball 1965-68)
Peterson was the leading scorer as a 6-5 sophomore forward on Valenti’s undersized 1965-66 AAWU champions, who beat out UCLA for the league title on their way to the Elite Eight.
There was something about Peterson’s elegance as a player. As junior-high kids, my friend and I used to imitate the silky — and sort of cocky — way he ran downcourt.
Loy was a free spirit who clashed with Valenti, an old-school disciplinarian who emphasized defense and espoused ball control on offense. Loy would have flourished in Ralph Miller’s system, but he was still a very effective player for Valenti. I’ll never forget the performance Loy put on in his final college game, scoring 33 points before fouling out with 11 minutes left in a 93-54 rout of Oregon.
A second-round draft pick by Chicago, he played two seasons as a little-used reserve for the Bulls. When Oregon State held a 50-year reunion for the team a few years ago, I was seated at his table and we had a great chat. It was nice to learn that the player I enjoyed watching as a kid was a good guy, too.
Mikayla Pivec (from Mikayla’s Twitter account @pivec10)
4. Mikayla Pivec (women’s basketball 2016-20)
In my last profile piece on Pivec, I called her “an excellent player and a generational person in the Beavers’ women’s basketball program.” A 3.93 student who completed her masters in biochemistry and biophysics, she was named to the first team in the national Senior CLASS awards for achievements in classroom, community, character and competition. She was also the Pac-12’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball.
Coach Scott Rueck told me he has never coached a player so dedicated to community service. A natural shooting guard, Pivec — listed at 5-10 but probably closer to 5-9 — is Oregon State’s career rebounding leader and the shortest player in Pac-12 history with 1,000 rebounds. She ranks eighth on the school list in scoring, first in rebounds and fourth in assists, the only player in OSU history to rank among the top 10 in all three categories.
Pivec’s intangibles are off the charts. Rueck says he has never known anyone as selfless, that she wants more for her teammates to have success than for herself. I’d describe Mikayla as genuine. If she’s not a true-blue giving person, she sure has me fooled.
On the court, she’s a difference-maker. I enjoyed watching her will herself offensive rebounds and loose balls. I always wished she’d have shot more, and when the Beavers really needed a basket — especially her senior year — she got more aggressive looking for her shot.
I enjoyed getting to know her — in future years, I hope I’ll be able to call her a friend. As I told her, she’s the kind of person I’d love to see as family physician for my kids or grandkids after her pro basketball career is over.
Dick Fosbury (from Dick’s Twitter account @DickFosbury1)
5. Dick Fosbury (track and field 1965-69)
The “Foz” was an innovator in his sport, the man who popularized a way of high jumping that allowed the event to climb to greater heights (pun intended).
Before Fosbury came onto the scene, the “western roll” was the style all the world’s great high jumpers employed. After he burst onto the scene by winning the 1968 Olympic Games with an Olympic-record leap of 7-4 1/4 in Mexico City, the “Fosbury Flop” was not just cool, it was the style to which everybody under the sun gravitated.
As a junior high and high school student during Fosbury’s time at OSU, my friends and I would venture to old Bell Field and practice our “flop” on the high jump pit there. I don’t think I ever exceeded five feet, but I loved the idea I was jumping right where the great “Foz” perfected his craft.
Oregon State track meets of that era were a happening, and I missed none of them. Watching Fosbury and the other great jumpers of that era — Coach Berny Wagner coached seven who cleared seven feet, including four on one team — were a highlight.
Getting to know Foz since then has been a pleasure. He’s a doer who has served as president of the World Olympians Association and is currently a county commissioner living in the Sun Valley region of Idaho. Those kind of people are hard to beat.
Honorable mention
Football: Steve Preece (The “Fox” was a great leader and master of the option in Dee Andros’ full-house T offense), Bill Enyart (Nobody could barrel through no hole and get four yards like “the Earthquake), Mike Hass (glue in his hands, competitive fire in his heart) and Steven Jackson (best blend of size, speed and toughness of any ballcarrier in Beaver history).
Brent Barry, Michael Jordan, and Drew Barry (from Brent’s Twitter account @Barryathree)
Basketball: Brent Barry (“Bones” during his NBA career, they called him “The Condor” at OSU for his grace and leaping ability), Lester Conner (“the Molester” was Gary Payton’s equal at the defensive end and the driving force behind the Beavers’ Elite Eight team in 1982) and Payton (who didn’t love watching the brash “Glove” do his thing?).
Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles farm system (from @keithewarner’s Twitter account)
Baseball: Adley Rutschman (greatest two-way player in school history and Darwin Barney (runt-sized, giant-talented).
Track and field: Willie Turner (closing speed as a sprinter was a thing to behold) and Joni Huntley (American record-holder and another forerunner to the “Flop”).
Readers: who are your five favorite Beavers? Share your comments below.
Reach out to Kerry Eggers here.
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