Tinkle tinkers, forges stronger OSU lineup

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 7, 2017

CORVALLIS — What Wayne Tinkle must do is make sure the nightmare of last season is not a recurring one.

After winning 17 games his first season as Oregon State’s coach and taking his second team to the NCAA Tournament — the Beavers’ first such appearance in more than a quarter-century — Tinkle lost the path to Shangri-La last year.

The Beavers finished with a 5-27 record, worst in the 116 years of the program. They were 1-17 in Pac-12 play and 0-13 in road games.

The good news is, next season is a new season, and nothing carries over other than a feeling of regret that the season that wasn’t ever happened.

Oregon State’s top 10 scorers from a year ago return if you include Tres Tinkle, the coach’s son and the Beavers’ resident best player who missed all but six games before sitting out the rest of the season with a broken wrist. The 6-8 forward was granted a medical redshirt year and returns as a sophomore with three seasons of eligibility remaining.

In addition, the Beavers will add four recruits to the mix, all with the opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation. The newcomers are freshmen Ethan Thompson, Zach Reichle and Alfred Hollins and forward Seth Berger, a graduate senior transfer from Massachusetts.

“What we feel we’re adding with this recruiting class — much like our first class — is some competitiveness to challenge the veterans,” Tinkle says. “They’ll bring some toughness to our roster.

“We feel good about the group we’ll have. The young players got a ton of experience last season. We know some of their roles will change drastically as we bring in the new guys, but we feel like we’ll have the best depth since we’ve been here.”

Center Cheikh N’Diaye also received a medical redshirt year, but it’s up in the air whether he will be back for his senior season.

The only rotation player who is sure not to return is walk-on forward Matt Dahlen, who will transfer to Division II St. Martin’s for his final two seasons.

Guard Malcolm Duvivier — a starter during Tinkle’s first two seasons who sat out last season while dealing with personal issues — will transfer to Akron after graduating from OSU this spring.

“It gets Malcolm closer to home (Toronto) to a place where he can be a starter and have a great senior season,” Tinkle says.

The players on campus have worked hard with strength/conditioning coach Jeff Macy this spring, Tinkle says. The coach feels particularly good about the progress of junior center Gligorije Rakocevic and guards Stevie Thompson Jr. and JaQuori McLaughlin.

“Big G’s vertical is up at least six inches,” Tinkle says. “Stevie and JaQuori have each put on probably 10 pounds of good weight.”

Junior center Drew Eubanks confirmed last month what OSU coaches thought all along, that he would return to play for the Beavers next season. Eubanks declared for the NBA draft but didn’t sign with an agent.

“Drew is such a big part of what we’re doing,” Tinkle says of the ex-Reynolds High standout, who led the Beavers in scoring (14.8) and rebounds (8.3) last season. “We feel a lot better about our team with him at center going into next season.”

Eubanks is working on expanding his shooting range so he can face up on defenders.

“We worked on that a lot last summer and he did well, but once we got into the season, he lost his confidence and went back to his old habits,” Tinkle says. “He’s back working on it now. We’re even letting him step back and shoot the ‘3’ in our workouts. We don’t want him shooting a ton of them, but it will help pull the bigger defender away from the basket, which will allow our guards to get to the rim or our wings to post up.

“He will go in with a fresh attitude. We’re going to see a rejuvenated Drew next season.”

Beaver Nation eagerly awaits the arrival of Ethan Thompson, the younger brother of Stevie and son of OSU assistant coach Stevie Thompson Sr. The 6-5 shooting guard, a MaxPreps first-team All-American as a senior, averaged 22.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists in leading Bishop Montgomery High of Torrance, California, to the CIF Open Division state championship.

Thompson, ranked as the No. 49 recruit in the country by ESPN, was the state’s Player of the Year. He scored 32 points on 14-for-18 shooting in the BallIsLife All-American game at Long Beach, California, on May 6.

“Ethan is a winner, a hard-nosed, skilled player,” Tinkle says. “He’s a playmaker, a willing passer, a great rebounder for a guard, and he gets after it on defense. We think he’ll have an immediate impact.”

Tinkle says Ethan differs from his brother in on-court demeanor.

“Stevie is very much under control, but you’re going to see some emotion out of Ethan,” the coach says. “They have different personalities, but they’re both very talented players.”

Tinkle has high hopes for 6-5 guard Reichle, the two-time 5A Player of the Year who led Wilsonville to the state championship this season.

“He’s going to be able to do some things to help us stretch the floor,” Tinkle says. “He can shoot and has great court vision. He can rebound and get the ball up quickly, which will help in our transition game. He’s a hard-nosed defender and a tough kid who competes.”

Hollins is a 6-6 freshman forward, a four-star recruit and San Francisco native who helped Hillcrest Prep of Phoenix to the national prep championship this season. He played alongside Arizona-bound center DeAndre Ayton, the nation’s No. 1-ranked player.

“Alfred is a physical wing — the first one we’ve had since Tres,” the senior Tinkle says. “He can shoot, get to the rim, is an elite finisher, and loves guarding the opposing team’s best offensive weapon.”

Berger, a 6-8 power forward, is a Seattle native whom Tinkle recruited at Montana out of high school. As a junior at UMass, he averaged 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.2 minutes while starting 16 of 32 games, shooting .508 from the field.

“He’s the right fit for us,” Tinkle says. “He can shoot, he rebounds well at both ends, and he’s a good defender — long and athletic.

“What Seth brings will be invaluable, on and off the court in terms of maturity and leadership. Chemistry was an issue with last year’s team. We were so young and had so much adversity. Seth is going to help us bridge that gap.”

Tinkle is hoping for big things from Ben Kone, a 6-8, 235-pound sophomore power forward who played sparingly last season as he recovered from ACL knee surgery as a prep senior.

“He’s been going without the knee brace in offseason workouts,” Tinkle says. “We’re starting to see the explosiveness come back. If he continues to work hard, he’ll be a good contributor for us.”

The Beavers will have size and depth at the guard and wing positions. Tinkle can go big with Eubanks and Rakocevic in the lineup together, or small with his son at power forward.

“We’re more versatile,” the coach says. “We can play with four guards if we want to go small.

“We’ll be able to play at a different tempo. We want to score more. We want to play faster. We want to be more aggressive defensively. We want to create turnovers.”

Division I teams are allowed to go on European summer trips once every four years. The Beavers will venture to Spain in August, playing five games in 13 days. It will be familiar territory for Tinkle, who played seven seasons of professional ball in Spain.

“We’ll play in a couple of my old cities and visit some great tourist attractions,” he says. “It will be a great cultural and education experience for our guys, and it’s a chance to bond through the process.”

keggers@portlandtribune.com

@kerryeggers