The Oregon State Beavers lose do-it-all guard Gary Payton II but have a trio of sophomores ready to lead the way.
Oregon State Beavers
Last Season: T-6th, 9-9 in Pac-12, 19-13 overall
Predicted Pac-12 Finish: 5th
Projected Depth Chart
C: Drew Eubanks (So)/Cheikh N’dyaie (Sr)/Gligorije Rakocevic (So)
PF: Keondre Dew (Jr)/Ben Kone (Fr)
SF: Tres Tinkle (So)
SG: Stephen Thompson (So)/Kendal Manuel (Fr)
PG: JaQuori McLaughlin (Fr)/Ronnie Stacy (Jr)
Gone: G-Gary Payton II, C-Daniel Gomis, PF-Jarmal Reid, SG-Langston Morris-Walker. PF-Olef Schaftenaar, PG-Malcolm Duvivier, G-Derrick Bruce (transfer-NW Florida State)
Strengths:
The Beavers have a talented trio of sophomores featuring Tres Tinkle, Steven Thompson Jr., and Drew Eubanks. Those three players finished second, third, and fourth respectively in scoring for Oregon State last season and will chip in to pick up the scoring slack left behind by a number of graduating seniors. Tinkle and Thompson are skilled scorers while Eubanks has added to muscle to his frame and should be a bigger low post presence this year.
Question Marks:
Having led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals; Gary Payton II did everything for the Beavers last season. Malcolm Duvivier was the likely candidate to replace Payton at the point but in late September it was announced Duvivier was leaving the program for personal reasons. That likely thrusts freshman JaQuori McLaughlin into the spotlight as the starting point guard. JUCO transfer, Ronnie Stacy will compete for minutes at the point as well.
Depth is a concern as well since Cheikh N’dyaie and Gligorjie Rakocevic are the only returning players to see minutes a year ago and they were minimal at that. Redshirt freshman Kendal Manuel and true freshman Ben Kone round out the thin bench, assuming JUCO transfer Keondre Dew gets the nod as starting power forward.
Player to Watch:
The son of head coach Wayne Tinkle, Tres averaged 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a freshman despite only starting 11 games. He still played 27 minutes a game but with all of Payton’s touches being spread throughout the roster, Tinkle should be the beneficiary of more looks. At 6-8, he can be a difficult matchup for defenses since he can shoot it from the inside or take advantage of smaller defenders around the paint.
X-Factor:
McLaughlin brings good size and playmaking ability to the floor but is bound to see his share of growing pains as a young point guard. The Beavers should compete for another NCAA Tournament bid and how quickly McLaughlin matures at the point could determine their fate.
Looking Ahead to 2017-18:
Top 100 guard Ethan Thompson, the brother of Stephen Jr. and son of OSU assistant coach Stephen, has already given his verbal commitment for the 2017 class. With a roster consisting of only one senior, the future looks promising in Corvallis.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/18 at Nevada
11/22 at Tulsa
11/25 vs. Fresno State
12/1 at Mississippi State
12/3 at Charlotte
12/16 vs. Long Beach State (in Portland)
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.