The Oregon State Beavers men\u2019s basketball team has a new look, a clear vision and big ambitions.<\/p>\n
Head coach Wayne Tinkle is on the hunt for his third trip to the NCAA tournament in year 12 with the Beavers. Oregon State\u2019s 20-13 record last year, its first of two seasons in the West Coast Conference, was the program\u2019s best since the 2020-21 season. The Beavers finished with the same record during the 2020-21 and 2024-25 seasons. The two years are also the Beavers\u2019 most recent winning seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe let a couple (games) slip away down the stretch,\u201d Tinkle said of last year\u2019s finish. \u201cI think we lost our focus, just because of the landscape at that time. These guys want to build off that. So how do you build off of that? It\u2019s winning more games, trying to finish higher in the WCC and trying to get to the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think those are all legitimate goals for this group, but it\u2019s early. We\u2019ve got a long way to (go).\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinkle got a first taste of what his 2025-26 team looks like this past weekend. Oregon State beat Cal, 76-66, in an unannounced, closed-door scrimmage on St. Mary\u2019s campus Saturday. It\u2019s an encouraging sign for the Beavers, who return just six players \u2014 none of whom started more than seven games \u2014 from last season\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
Nine out, nine in<\/p>\n
Tualatin High School product Josiah Lake II is back for year three as a Beaver after making six starts at guard as a sophomore. He led the six returners in minutes, playing the fifth-most for the Beavers last season. Junior forward Isaiah Sy made a team-high seven starts on the wing for Oregon State a year ago. Ja\u2019Quavius Williford, Gavin Marrs and Johan Munch played occasional minutes, while Kaan Yarkurt redshirted.<\/p>\n
The transfer portal hit the Beavers hard. Their top-four scorers \u2014 forward Michael Rataj, center Parsa Fallah and guards Damarco Minor and Nate Kingz \u2014 all departed this offseason. Two found work in the ACC, with Minor landing at Pitt and Kingz with Syracuse. Rataj earned a reported $2 million to join Baylor, while Fallah went to Oklahoma State.<\/p>\n
Oregon State hit the portal back, bringing in nine new faces to replace the nine it lost. This year\u2019s Beavers team is taller, thinner and, above all, distinctly international.<\/p>\n
Oregon State has 15 players on this year\u2019s roster, 10 of which were born outside the United States. The Beavers represent nine different countries \u2014 Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the United States \u2014 and three continents this season.<\/p>\n
Center Yaak Yaak (a Colorado-Mesa transfer) and forward Stephen Olowoniyi (Indiana State), both juniors, represent Australia. Sy and freshman guard Keziah Ekissi are the roster\u2019s pair of Frenchmen. The Beavers\u2019 only seniors, fifth-year guard Malcolm Christie (Oakland University) and forward Jorge Diaz Graham (Pitt), both transferred and hail from Canada and Spain, respectively.<\/p>\n
Forwards Yarkurt (Turkey) and Munch (Denmark) are entering their second seasons in Corvallis. Two freshmen, guard Matija Samar (Slovenia) and forward Olavi Suutela (Finland), enter their first seasons of college basketball state-side this year.<\/p>\n
Guards Dez White (a Missouri State transfer and Missouri native), Lake II and Williford (Tampa Bay, Florida) are Oregon State\u2019s domestic offerings in the backcourt. The Beavers pair of seven-footers, Marrs (Ellensburg, Washington) and Coastal Carolina-transfer center Noah Amenhauser (Goodyear, Arizona), round out the roster\u2019s Americans.<\/p>\n
Their diversity \u2014 and how quickly they\u2019ve meshed together \u2014 is a point of pride for the Beavers, Tinkle said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing about our program \u2014 whether (we\u2019re) heavily European or all American \u2014 (they\u2019re all) coming from different backgrounds,\u201d Tinkle said. \u201c(They) really embrace each other for their differences, not alienating one another. It\u2019s something I think our society as a whole should really learn from. But the neat thing is, they bring different cultures, different styles (and) different upbringings\u2026 It\u2019s great to see how well they\u2019ve embraced that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Play-style tailored to its parts<\/p>\n
Tinkle also said Tuesday that the roster\u2019s international influence is a product of college basketball\u2019s current landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like we (as a program) are committing to just going (after) euros,\u201d Tinkle said. \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of the landscape with NIL and revenue-share and how all that takes shape. We love the guys that we have. They\u2019re more willing to come to the States now because of rev-share and NIL, where, in years past, they would just stay and play for their club team and make a bit of money. What\u2019s really neat is their desire to get an education, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinkle added that Oregon State\u2019s brand of basketball fits the European mold better than the NBA\u2019s on-court product. The Beavers want to spread the floor, move the ball around on offense and create defensive turnovers; rather than build around isolation mismatches.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good team basketball,\u201d Tinkle said.<\/p>\n
Eleven of the 15 players on Oregon State\u2019s roster this year are listed at 6-foot-6 or taller. Six of them \u2014 Yaak, Marrs, Munch, Diaz Graham, Suutela and Amenhauser \u2014 surpass or are pushing seven-feet tall.<\/p>\n
The length, particularly on the wings, makes up for what the Beavers lack in anchoring-weight under the basket. Amenhauser, the 7-foot-2, 270-pound center, is the only player on Oregon State\u2019s roster listed north of 250 pounds.\u00a0With Fallah at center last year, the Beavers were successful under the basket and in the paint. Tinkle says they aren\u2019t abandoning the approach, but are tailoring it to fit the new-look Beavers\u2019 longer and more athletic play-style.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many guys think back-to-the-basket just means playing bully-ball,\u201d Tinkle said. \u201cWe really teach and develop the importance of throwing it in there just to get the defense to collapse\u2026 If teams want to try and double-team, we\u2019re going to have shooters around (the perimeter).\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinkle said he joked with assistant coach Chris Haslam about Oregon State finishing at the top of the country in three-point attempts. The Beavers (19.4 3-point attempts per game) ranked 315th of 355 teams in the category last season. North Florida led the country with 1,147 tries, averaging nearly 36 per game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shot it really well from three (against Cal),\u201d Tinkle said. \u201c(We went) 14-for-27, but they were good shots. So, it didn\u2019t really surprise us that we shot that well of a percentage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Season\u2019s beginning<\/p>\n
The Beavers\u2019 2025-26 season unofficially begins Friday with an exhibition game against DII Western Oregon at Gill Coliseum. Oregon State\u2019s regular-season kicks off at Gill against North Dakota State on Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
Exhibition vs. Western Oregon (DII)\u00a0<\/p>\n
When: Saturday, Oct. 25<\/p>\n
Where: Gill Coliseum; Corvallis, Oregon<\/p>\n
Time: 2 p.m. PT<\/p>\n
TV: N\/A<\/p>\n
Game 1: vs. North Dakota State<\/p>\n
When:\u00a0Monday, Nov. 3<\/p>\n
Where: Gill Coliseum; Corvallis, Oregon<\/p>\n
Time:\u00a06:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
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