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COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Beavers’ tourney run opening doors to prominent prospects
By NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
COrVallis — Oregon state’s
elite eight run has long since come
and gone, but in one respect, it’s still
a fresh topic to some who matter
most.
Men’s basketball recruits look-
ing at Oregon state as their college
destination.
in most cases, amend that to next
college destination, as this spring’s
recruiting attention has turned to the
NCaa transfer portal.
The Beavers have at least two
roster spots to fill with the depar-
ture of transfers Julien Franklin and
Tariq silver.
asked if he expects others
currently on the roster to consider
the portal, Osu coach Wayne
Tinkle said, “in this day and age,
you never know. We’re prepared.
We’re involved with some pretty
good guys. you never know once
you start signing a guy or two, how
guys will respond to that. We’ll see.
i know we’ll be prepared to deal
with whatever comes our way.”
Tinkle can’t talk about specific
transfer prospects, but his coaching
staff isn’t having trouble developing
conversations with prominent play-
ers. several are thought to have ties
to power 5 programs.
it’s the byproduct of an elite
Eight run, the school’s first in 39
years.
still, there’s some frustration
on Tinkle’s behalf, as pandemic
restrictions keep him from bring-
ing recruits to campus until at least
the summer months. By the end
of spring, most of the worthwhile
transfer prospects will have a new
home.
“We’re working hard, doing the
FaceTime campus tours and that sort
of thing,” Tinkle said. “But you’d
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ducks have
strength,
depth
among RBs
By JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
euGeNe — C.J. Verdell thought
about leaving for the NFl, but that
was before.
Before a shortened 2020 season.
Before an injury to his left thumb.
Before the Oregon iron horse missed
the first two games of his career.
Verdell met with Mario Cris-
tobal, offensive coordinator Joe
Moorhead and running backs coach
Jim Mastro after the season and said
he’d return for a fourth season in five
years.
“i love Oregon, i love the team
here, I love the coaching staff, a
great environment overall,” Verdell
said. “Coming back was never
something that i was like, ‘No i
don’t want to do that.’ Talking with
my parents they were with me 100%
whatever i chose and when i said i
wanted to come back they was with
me full bore.”
a 1,000-yard rusher in 2018
and 2019, Verdell is one of the best
running backs in the pac-12 and the
country when healthy. But in just
five games last season he had only
65 carries for 285 yards and three
touchdowns.
Verdell said the left thumb
injury that kept him out of the
pac-12 Championship game against
usC and the Fiesta Bowl actually
happened during the Washington
state game, when he had 18 carries
for 118 yards and a score, and not the
uCla game, when he fumbled and
saw his workload fall dramatically
afterward.
He said there was “a whole lot
going on” with the injury, including
a torn ligament and bone fracture.
See Ducks, Page A11
Al Powers/Pac-12 Conference, File/Bend Bulletin
Oregon State men’s basketball coach Wayne Tinkle celebrates with players Ethan Thompson (5) and Zach Reich-
le (11) after the Beavers upset Colorado in the Pac-12 Conference tournament title game in Las Vegas in March.
Tinkle credits the leadership roles taken on by Thompson and Reichle as key in the Beavers’ improbable post-
season run.
like to get them on campus and close
the door.”
Officially, there remains no word
on whether seniors ethan Thompson
or Zach reichle will return for the
2021-22 season. Tinkle said earlier
this week that neither is currently in
Corvallis. He’ll have a conversation
with Thompson and reichle at some
point this spring. Tinkle said he’s
leaving any formal announcement
about their futures to the players.
Tinkle is expecting to have a
close-to-normal offseason work-
out schedule during the summer,
provided players are able to get
vaccinations. Though given the
current nature of college basket-
ball and the abundance of transfers,
many teams won’t have their rosters
set until mid-summer or later.
Joining Oregon state’s program
are Memphis transfer forward
ahmad rand and guard dashawn
davis, currently at Trinity Valley
Community College. rand has been
on campus since January. davis is
still playing, as Trinity Valley is in
the NJCaa championship tourna-
ment april 19-24.
On Wednesday, april 14, Chol
Marial, a 7-foot-2 center who played
two years at Maryland, announced
he is transferring to Oregon state.
Marial was rated by espN as
the No. 58 prospect for the national
recruiting class of 2019.
Marial averaged 1.3 points and
1.3 rebounds during his two years
at Maryland.
Marial played sparingly as a
freshman at Maryland after battling
leg injuries. as a sophomore, the
235-pound Marial played double-
digit minutes in several early-season
games, but his playing time dimin-
ished as the season progressed.
Not officially announced by
Oregon state but committed to
join the Beavers is guard Xzavier
Malone-Key, who opted out of Fair-
leigh dickinson’s 2020-21 season.
He comes to Oregon state as a grad-
uate transfer.
Tinkle said it’s a little early to
develop a nonconference schedule.
Oregon state is slated to play in the
emerald Coast Classic, a four-team
tournament that includes louisiana
state, penn state and Wake Forest,
on Nov. 26-27 in Niceville, Fla.
also up in the air is the number of
nonconference games, as it’s unclear
as to whether the pac-12 will play 18
or 20 conference games. The pac-12
played a 20-game schedule this past
season because of the pandemic, but
previously played 18 games. Tinkle
leans toward a 20-game conference
schedule .
regardless of how the roster and
schedule comes together in 2021-
22, reclaiming the magic chemis-
try of this past season is the priority.
a season appearing to be headed
nowhere suddenly emerged into
a historical one at Oregon state
because of a term Tinkle wore out
down the stretch: buy-in.
Getting everyone to commit for
the good of the team is a challenge,
Tinkle admits. it didn’t happen over-
night with the 2020-21 Beavers.
There were some hideous losses
and COVid-19 stoppages during the
first half of the season. But down the
stretch, Tinkle seemingly could turn
to any player for a big moment.
“it’s a credit to them, but it’s a
challenge every year,” Tinkle said.
“you’ve got a lot of people maybe
outside of the locker room that are
giving opinions on how you should
be played and freedom you should
be allowed. it’s tough to deal with
that. But this group put all that aside,
obviously.”
The leadership of Thompson and
reichle was instrumental in selling
the message, Tinkle said. it partic-
ularly blossomed when the typi-
cally reserved Thompson began to
express himself vocally to team-
mates.
“They really stepped it up leader-
ship-wise, when we needed it most,”
Tinkle said.
New adventures await
Irrigon’s Emma
Mueller to play
volleyball at Notre
Dame of Maryland
University
of 2021 with alyssa luna, has
received a presidential scholar-
ship from NdMu, which will
cover her tuition for four years.
“i still can’t believe i got that,”
Mueller said.
A life of volleyball
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
I
rriGON — When emma
Mueller decided she wanted
to play college volleyball,
she was determined to stay in
Oregon, pay in-state tuition
and be closer to home.
a year later, the irrigon senior
has signed to play at Notre dame
of Maryland university in Balti-
more — about as far away from
home as she can possibly get.
“i had a very long college
process,” Mueller said. “The start
of my junior year, i reached out to
colleges. i wanted to stay in state,
but at the end of my junior year
and the start of my senior year,
my mind started shifting.”
Mueller connected with a
recruiter online, who helped
put her in touch with coaches
throughout the country. That’s
how she found Notre dame of
Maryland university.
“i went on a visit in February,
and here we are today,” said Muel-
ler, who is a setter. “i’m excited to
do this for myself. My goal was to
have new experiences, learn from
new experiences and meet new
people.”
NdMu is Maryland’s only
women’s college — one of only
33 in the united states. While that
was intriguing to Mueller, it did
not deter her.
“That was never a big thing to
me,” she said. “i thought it was
interesting. i’d never heard of
an all-girls college. as i started
talking to the volleyball girls and
others at the college, they said
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Irrigon’s Emma Mueller (3) sets the ball during a 3-0 win over the Stan-
field Tigers at Irrigon High School on March 9, 2021.
how they liked how they could
speak freely, dress how they want,
and express themselves more.
Hearing about their experiences,
I thought it would be a good fit.”
The Gators compete in the
Colonial states athletic Confer-
ence and have won the past two
conference titles. They compete
at the NCaa division iii level.
The NdMu campus is close
to Baltimore Harbor, and the city
is full of museums, monuments,
sporting events and was named
one of the top 10 u.s. cities for
food lovers.
“There really is a lot to do,”
Mueller said.
Mueller plans to major in nurs-
ing, and would like to work in a
Neonatal intensive Care unit with
babies.
NdMu has a state-of-the-art
facility equipped with comput-
er-powered human simulator
mannequins, allowing students
to practice nursing skills in a real-
istic and risk-free environment.
Mueller, who is irrigon’s
co-valedictorian for the Class
Mueller has been playing
volleyball since she was in the
fourth grade. she has always been
a setter, but it took her a while to
master her craft.
“At first, I wasn’t very good
at it,” she said. “But after i quit
growing (she is 5-6), i realized
it was either setting or being a
defensive specialist.”
Her love of the sport grew
when she started playing club
volleyball for Club Gold out of
the Tri-Cities in Washington with
her good friend Makenna Collins,
who recently signed to play at
eastern Washington university.
“That ignited the spark,”
Mueller said of club volleyball.
“i’m ever thankful for club and
the opportunities it has given me.
i have gotten to play against some
of the best players in the country.
Our families are best friends.
This will be an adjustment for
them.”
irrigon competes in the tough
3a eastern Oregon league with
the likes of Burns, Nyssa and
Vale. Mueller was an honorable
mention selection as a sophomore,
and a first-team setter as a junior.
The Knights advanced to the
3a state tournament in 2018 for
the first time in school history.
They lost in the first round to
South Umpqua and finished the
season with a 14-10 record.
last year, the Knights (15-13)
fell short of the state tournament
with a loss to Burns at the district
tournament.
“i’m thankful i grew up in a
small town,” Mueller said. “you
have to learn how to work and
make your own games. Being
on a farm helped form me as the
person i am today, but i’m excited
for a change of scenery.”