Sports
A9
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Beavers
generate
more
early
buzz
McCollum
traded to
New Orleans
Oregon State moves
into top 20 in two
more polls
NEW ORLEANS —
The New Orleans Peli-
cans acquired guard CJ
McCollum from the Port-
land Trail Blazers as part
of a seven-player trade on
Tuesday, Feb. 8, that comes
as the Pelicans make a push
to qualify for the NBA
postseason.
“It’s going to elevate
our group,” Pelicans first-
year coach Willie Green
said. “CJ has seen it all.
He’s been in the league for
a decade, (he’s) been to a
conference championship.
He’s won at extremely high
levels. He’s a pro, and we
need guys like him to ele-
vate on the court. So we’re
excited. I’m excited. He’s
excited.”
The Pelicans also
received forwards Larry
Nance Jr. and Tony Snell
in the deal, while the Trail
Blazers get forward Josh
Hart, and guards Tomas
Satoransky, Nickeil Alexan-
der-Walker and Didi Lou-
zada, as well as draft com-
pensation in the form of a
2022 protected first-round
draft choice and two future
second-rounders.
The trade marks the end
of an era in Portland, where
McCollum has been paired
with Damian Lillard in the
backcourt since 2013. Port-
land has reached the play-
offs every season since they
drafted McCollum. How-
ever, the Blazers struggled
in the postseason, reaching
the Western Conference
finals only once while being
eliminated in the first round
five times.
The 30-year-old McCo-
llum is averaging 20.5
points, 4.5 assists and 4.3
rebounds this season.
He gives the Pelicans
a needed outside shooting
threat and overall reli-
able scorer at a time when
New Orleans appears to be
on the upswing — despite
playing this season without
star forward Zion Wil-
liamson. After starting
1-12, the Pelicans (22-32)
have climbed into the final
play-in spot in the Western
Conference with the help
of their current four-game
winning streak.
Williamson, inciden-
tally, has been in Oregon
trying to rehabilitate from
offseason surgery to repair
his fractured right foot. It is
unclear if he will be ready
to return this season.
The Pelicans are making
less than 33% from 3-point
range this season and they
are 29th in the league in
3-pointers made. McCollum
has shot no less than 37.5%
Pelicans acquire
Blazers guard in
7-player swap
By BRETT MARTEL
The Associated Press
By JOE FREEMAN
The Oregonian
CORVALLIS — The
Oregon State baseball
team is batting .667 this
preseason.
The Beavers collected
two more national rank-
ings last week, moving
them into the top 25 in
four of the six major col-
lege baseball polls, as the
team inches toward a sea-
son-opening matchup in
the Sanderson Ford Col-
lege Baseball Classic.
The National Colle-
giate Baseball Writers
Association slotted the
Beavers at No. 18 in its
preseason poll, while
the USA Today Top 25,
voted on by college base-
ball coaches, debuted
the Beavers at No. 20.
OSU already had been
tabbed No. 11 by Baseball
America and No. 18 by
D1Baseball.com.
The rankings reinforce
the lofty
preseason
expectations
of the team,
which were
summed up
by slugger
Melton
Jacob Melton
late last
month: “I think any-
thing short of Omaha is
a failure for us,” he said,
referring to the site of the
College Baseball World
Series.
The Bea-
vers return
perhaps the
best starting
pitching in
the Pac-12
Conference,
Hjerpe
anchored
by pre-
season All-American left-
hander Cooper Hjerpe,
and a strong top-to-bottom
lineup featuring Melton,
Garret Forrester and Wade
Meckler,
among others.
What’s more,
the Beavers
have been
effusive in
their praise
for Austra-
Canham
lian freshman
Travis Bazzana, who
earned MVP honors in the
West Coast League last
summer and appears to be
a budding star.
Oregon State opens the
season Feb. 18 against
New Mexico in Surprise,
Arizona.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
La Grande’s Brody MacMillan (11) fends off a Burns defender Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, at Community Stadium in La Grande. Athletic
directors from La Grande, Baker and Pendleton recently expressed concerns about a potential three-team league and have pro-
posed a new Greater Oregon League lineup that would include Crook County, Madras and The Dalles.
New-look league?
Latest OSAA proposal
adds three schools to
Greater Oregon League
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
WILSONVILLE — Local foot-
ball coaches and athletic directors
are advocating for a larger football
league in Eastern Oregon.
Based on the Oregon School
Activities Association’s latest foot-
ball update, three local school will
likely have their wishes granted.
At the most recent OSAA Foot-
ball Ad Hoc Committee meeting
in Wilsonville on Wednesday,
Feb. 2, athletic directors from
La Grande, Baker and Pendleton
spoke by video to express their
concerns about a potential three-
team league. In the committee’s
update on Feb. 4, the newly pro-
posed Greater Oregon League
would include Crook County,
Madras and The Dalles.
“What we’re looking for is
something just more equitable and
something that’s more sustain-
able, at least for the next couple
years, instead of having a three-
team league,” Pendleton Athletic
Director Mike Somnis said at the
meeting.
Pendleton recently moved
down from the 5A ranks to join
Baker and La Grande at the 4A
level, but former GOL team
Ontario is also set to move down.
McLoughlin and Ontario will
both be 3A schools when the dis-
tricts are reshuffled in 2022. The
3A Eastern Oregon League is set
to consist of Burns, McLoughlin,
Nyssa/Harper Charter, Ontario
and Vale.
Between the 2016 and 2019
seasons, GOL teams played home-
and-away series — this was
emphasized in the OSAA meeting
as an area of concern that a larger
league could fix. Coming off a
shortened 2020 season, La Grande
and other GOL schools played
five nonleague matchups and two
league matchups to conclude the
season.
La Grande Athletic Director
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Pendleton’s Owen Golter (23) and Grant Clark (29) cheer as the Buckaroos score during
a 7-6 loss to the Dallas Dragons Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in the first round of the OSAA 5A
State Football Championships at the Pendleton Round-Up Arena in Pendleton.
Darren Goodman noted that the
Tigers have only had two league
matchups each of the last two
seasons.
“Our kids deserve a decent
league and the only reason
we’re not getting it is because of
where our school is,” he told the
committee.
Goodman, along with the two
other athletic directors, voiced the
shared opinion that GOL schools
are willing to travel in order to
compete in a larger league.
The trip from La Grande to
Crook County is an estimated 4-1/2
hours without traffic, while Madras
is roughly a four-hour drive.
OSAA’s update also detailed
that three teams from the Greater
Oregon League will qualify for
the 16-team playoffs. The new-
ly-proposed district for the 2022
season reflect a similar plan pro-
posed by Baker Athletic Director
Buell Gonzales, who proposed
an eight-team league to the com-
mittee. The Dalles and Crook
County would drop down from
5A, while Madras was for-
merly a member of the Tri-Valley
Conference.
According to Gonzales, the
league could be created in a way
that limits the amount of times
outside schools would have to
travel to Eastern Oregon.
“We can be creative in our
scheduling and make it so one
school does not have to travel
to all three in the same season,”
Gonzales said.
All three athletic directors
emphasized that the added travel
would be worth the benefits of
beefing up the league.
“In the fall, it’s never been an
issue with weather,” Goodman
informed the committee. “We
haven’t had a team ever in the fall
not be able to get to us or us get-
ting to another school. That isn’t a
valid reason to not give us two or
three more teams. We’re willing
to travel.”
Baker head football coach
Jason Ramos echoed a similar
sentiment, noting that the pros-
pect of proposed trips to Central
Oregon is not a factor.
“I’m in favor of the expansion
proposal,” Ramos said. “A three-
team league doesn’t do us any
good. The OSAA has to do some-
thing to help us out, and I think
this is a reasonable solution to that
issue.”
With the four-team GOL roster
that’s been in place for more than a
decade, Baker has had to travel far-
ther than that, including to Western
Washington in past seasons, to fill
its schedule, Ramos said.
With the newly proposed
leagues, the Greater Oregon
League would be one of four
leagues with six teams — the
4A-5 Big Sky Conference would
have seven teams. The OSAA
Football Ad Hoc Committee is
set to meet again in Wilsonville at
9 a.m. on Feb. 16.
See, Trade/Page A10
SPORTS SHORT
Davis named Cascade Collegiate Conference athlete of the week
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Coming off an excellent
showing against Division
I talent this past weekend,
Eastern Oregon Universi-
ty’s TJ Davis was named
Cascade Collegiate Con-
ference indoor field athlete
of the week.
The Sandpoint, Idaho,
native placed second in
the men’s heptathlon at the
Washington State Univer-
sity Invitational on Friday,
Feb. 4. Davis scored 5,248
points in the event, fin-
ishing just 34 points back
of first place — he com-
peted against 11 other ath-
letes in the event.
Davis was near the top
of the field in just about
every event, taking first
place in shot put, high
jump and the 1000-meter
run. The junior took
second in the 60-meter
dash, third in the long
jump and second in the
60-meter hurdles. Davis
finished sixth in the pole
vault.
The strong showing
by Davis ranks him first
in the NAIA in the men’s
heptathlon by just under
100 points. His score was
also ranked as the second
highest mark in Eastern’s
program history.
Davis beat out five
Division I athletes. Eastern
teammate Sam Roddewig
placed sixth in the event.
The Mountaineers
have one final regular
season meet remaining in
the indoor season before
heading to the NAIA
Indoor Championships.
The competition is set to
take place in Brookings,
South Dakota from March
3 through March 5.
Eastern will travel to
Spokane, Washington, on
Feb. 12 to compete at the
Whitworth Invitational.
Events are slated to begin
at 8 a.m.
Eastern Oregon
University’s TJ Davis
competes in the long
jump at the Eastern
Oregon Multi-Events
meet on Wednesday,
March 3, 2021, at
Banner Bank Track in
La Grande. Coming
off a strong showing
in the heptathlon at
the Washington State
University Invitational
on Feb. 3, Davis was
named Cascade Colle-
giate Conference field
athlete of the week.
Eastern Oregon University Athletics/Contributed Photo