Oregon State Beavers guard Catarina Ferreira (30) dribbles the ball up the court against the NW Nazarene Nighthawks at Gill Coliseum. CMG photo: Jaime Valdez

Catarina Ferreira’s trophy case is quickly running out of room.

The Oregon State women’s basketball guard earned herself a silver medal at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup in Santiago, Chile, as a member of the Brazilian National Team on Sunday. It’s her second major honor of 2025, and one that should pair nicely alongside the first — her West Coast Conference Tournament MVP trophy — on the mantle.

Her on-court action in the AmeriCup was limited, playing off the bench in all seven games, but Ferreira called the opportunity to play with her home country’s national team a dream come true. The uniforms, the competition level and the meaning of the games are vastly different, but Ferreira says that one door doesn’t open without the other.

“I feel like they go together,” Ferreira told the Portland Tribune about what her selection to the Brazilian National Team meant to her prior to the trip. “I’m representing my country and I’m representing Oregon State (when I play), It’s kind of both.”

Ferreira’s selection to Team Brazil’s roster and the new hardware that came with it was more than just a dream. It was the culmination of five years of hard work, overcoming homesickness, and unlocking the potential that the Beavers’ Director of Player Personnel, Eric Ely, had seen on display three years earlier.

A Brazilian Wedding
Over 6,000 miles north of Santiago, Ely sits on the baseline of Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, reminiscing about his four years living in Brazil.

It’s been decades since the 67-year-old played professionally in the country. But the memories of cultural immersion, small details of living abroad and major life changes flood back, regardless of the time passed. A piece of Brazil never left Ely, meeting and marrying his wife, Regina, during his time there.

“I cried during the whole wedding,” Ely said, recalling his wedding day. “I kind of couldn’t believe I was finally getting married, I was 29. I had a beautiful bride and all of her family was there — (and) she’s got a really large family.”

Nearly 40 years later and the pair are still married, with children and grandchildren to chase around now. Eric is fluent in Regina’s native tongue of Portuguese and Regina traded her home of Brazil for Eric’s in the United States.

Eric has spent all but two years (a brief stint as an assistant coach at Texas Tech during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons) of Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck’s 15 seasons at the helm of the program in a variety of roles. While Regina isn’t officially a member of the staff, her name is mentioned alongside Eric’s in his coach’s bio for her behind-the-scenes support.

It was the Elys’ commitment to the program’s culture as well as Regina’s heritage that helped bring out the best in Ferreira.

Temporarily Texans
Eric remembers the first time he saw the 6-foot Brazilian guard play basketball. She was finishing her sophomore season in the JUCO ranks at Eastern Arizona while Eric was on staff at Texas Tech.

Ferreira’s squad was playing at the junior college national tournament in Lubbock and Eric was in attendance scouting the talent. Ferreira stood out, with Eric citing her 3-point shooting ability and athleticism as the calling cards. Despite his recruiting efforts, Ferriera was destined to be a Baylor Bear that recruiting cycle.

But after two starts in as many seasons with Baylor, Ferreira found herself in the transfer portal and looking for a new home. Eric didn’t miss this time, drawing on his four years in her home country and the cultural knowledge he married into.

“It was good for me to remind her that I had watched and recruited her some in junior college,” Eric said. “But the most impactful thing — this I learned from living in Brazil — is the parents are super tight with their kids usually. They want to be involved. So I knew that right away if we were going to have a shot at this girl, we had to get her parents involved… (Coach Rueck) and I did a FaceTime call with her mom and I translated as much as I could.

“(Coach Rueck) pretty much said, ‘Hey, we’re going to take care of your daughter. We want her and we’re going to take care of her.’ (Ferreira’s mom) heard that and felt comfortable saying Oregon State was going to be a good place for her.”

Eric and Rueck got the family approval they were after, and Ferreira committed to Oregon State as a graduate student after smoothing over some of her own concerns — namely playing time.

“If anyone says you’re going to play a lot, they’re lying to you,” Eric said, recalling the conversation. “Because they don’t know. Nobody knows for sure. I told her, ‘We’re not recruiting you because we want you to sit on the bench. We’re recruiting you because we think you can play.'”

Special Delivery
Once Ferreira got to Corvallis, Eric, Rueck and the rest of the Beavers’ coaching staff pushed her hard.

Ferreira’s biggest bugaboo, her propensity for falling down and ending up on the hardwood, was tracked by the staff. She was pushed to develop her 3-point game and — even after starting 24 of Oregon State’s 25 prior games — found herself on the bench to hone her focus back in after a lackluster start.

But no matter how hard the work got or how badly she missed home, there was always a slice of Brazil at the Elys’ home.

“(Their Brazilian heritage) helped when I was making my decision, just because I can go to (Eric’s) office, and we can speak Portuguese,” Ferreira said. “A few months ago, I went to (Eric and Regina’s) house for dinner, and she made Brazilian food. So it just means a lot to have someone like that. He’ll reach out to my parents and talk to them and that’s something I didn’t have before.”

Ferreira had a kindred soul in Regina, who told stories about cooking Brazilian staples like black beans and rice and pão de queijo, a traditional Brazilian cheese bread. Ferreira isn’t the only Beaver the Elys’ would host, often opening their home to the team for meals, but the two Brazilians empathized with one another on their experiences in their native tongue.

“I understood so many of her concerns,” Regina said. “So every time we got together, I was able to talk to her about adjusting to a new culture, a new place… We can have conversations together and reminisce and say what we miss about our country and how things are done there that are different here. So it’s very uplifting to be able to speak in Portuguese together.”

The Elys also keep a South American soda, Guarana Antarctica, that isn’t available in the States on hand, too. Eric says it’s the little things that help keep the promise made to her parents.

“Most of these kids get homesick if they don’t have some type of connection (to home) or something where they can just know people care and love them,” Eric said. “We see it as keeping our promise to take care of their daughter.”

West Coast, Best Coast
Along with the off-court care, Ferreira’s trophy case proves what Eric said when he recruited her.

She could hoop.

After hovering at or below a .500 winning percentage for the majority of the 2024-25 season, the Beavers got hot at the right time. Oregon State entered the West Coast Conference tournament as the No. 4-seed and rattled off three-straight wins in as many days — including ones over No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Portland. When the confetti settled, it was the Beavers celebrating in it, emerging as WCC tournament champions with a ticket punched for the program’s second-straight March Madness berth.

At the center of it was Ferreira. She was a double-double threat in each of the three games, averaging 18 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 44% from the field and 70% from 3-point range. None of the figures were career-highs or some magical late-season fix. But the stretch of dominance on both ends of the floor earned her the WCC tournament’s MVP award. It was proof of concept for the coaching staff that coveted her, and for Ferreira herself.

“I had the mentality that I’m here for a reason,” Ferreira said. “I worked hard for this and I’m on a team where people believe in me… Being where people have confidence and belief in you makes a huge difference.”

Rueck and Eric’s belief brought the best out of Ferreira, and the success opened life-changing doors.

Whirlwind
Ferreira’s phone started ringing with calls from unknown numbers back home no less than a week after her tournament performance.

Oregon State’s season ended disappointingly in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA tournament, falling 70-49 at the hands of No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Beavers’ year was over, but Ferreira’s wasn’t. The Brazilian National Team was assembling itself for the new Olympic cycle and had taken notice of Ferreira’s dominance.

“I don’t think they would’ve noticed if we didn’t win or we weren’t winning,” Ferreira said. “Part of that is finishing the way we finished in the conference games and winning the WCC tournament. So I want to say part of (my selection) was winning the tournament and myself winning the MVP.”

With Team Brazil, Ferreira tasted the next of her basketball career-goals — the WNBA and The Olympic Games.

She kicked off May playing her first minutes for Team Brazil in preseason matchups against two of the most high-profile teams The W has to offer, the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky. Ferreira got solid action against both, playing north of 15 minutes in each game and facing some of the best players in the world.

“(Caitlin Clark) hit a three in my face! I was like, ‘Yep, hands up next time.” Ferreira laughed. “It was a surreal moment. Still, even a week after, I was like, ‘that actually happened?’ I was playing on national TV with, like, the greatest players (in the sport).”

Ferreira added that she’s hard time comprehending how quickly her life as a basketball player has changed in the last year. Going from a reserve player as a senior at Baylor, to graduate-student MVP at Oregon State, to a member of the Brazilian National Team at the AmeriCup. Her successes warmed the hearts of the Elys.

“I was happy for her and her family,” Eric said. “I was really happy for her parents, because her parents trusted us enough… (Ferreira) trusted us enough. And anytime someone trusts you and it comes to fruition, that’s always comforting and rewarding.

Regina echoed her husband’s thoughts, taking pride in her fellow countrywoman’s work.

“It was so gratifying for me to see her shine,” Regina said. “And shine so bright that it caught the attention of Brazil.”

One last time
The ride, however, isn’t over.

The 2024-25 season was supposed to be Ferreira’s last. But a December 2024 ruling by a federal judge in Tennessee and the NCAA Board of Directors’ subsequent blanket waiver granting all NCAA athletes who had played one or more seasons at a non-NCAA institution one more year of eligibility opened another door for Ferreira. With two junior college seasons under her belt, Ferreira qualified and announced her return to Oregon State for the 2025-26 season, her sixth, in February.

For Ferreira, it’s one more opportunity for her parents to see her play college basketball in person.

“When I think about having another year, that’s something (that sticks out),” Ferreira said. “Okay, mom and dad, you guys have one more opportunity to come see me — and I’ve been here for five years. We can’t control that. My mom tried to get her visa before and was denied. It’s just complicated to get one, especially when they think (she’s) trying to stay here. In reality, she’s just trying to come and visit me. But we’ll work on that, I’m going home now and we can work on that.”

For the five seasons she’s played in the United States, Ferreira’s parents haven’t been able to make the trip to come and see her play. According to Eric, Ferreira’s parents weren’t able to see their daughter graduate from Baylor, either.

It’s a sore spot for Ferreira, who called the situation “upsetting”, but added that she knows it isn’t a problem exclusive to her and has made it a point to make a trip home to São Paulo every summer.

The world of visas and international travel is murky at best, but Eric has a plan he hopes can spark a stateside family reunion.

“We’re going to write some letters,” Eric said. “I’m going to ask the (Mayor of Corvallis, Charles Maughan,) to write letters for her mom and dad to be able to get here next year. And I’m going to try to see about sending one to (Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s) office, too, for them to write letters on behalf of (Ferreira) to try to get her parents visas to be able to come.”

Ferreira is hopeful that the visas can be worked out, but regardless of what happens, she has a simple plan for her sixth season of college basketball.

“Just make it the best season ever,” She said. “Last one, best one.”