FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • THUrsday, aprIL 29, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
MEN’S COLLEGE
BASKETBALL
Thompson won’t
return to Beavs
Ethan Thompson said
in an interview in early
March that this past sea-
son was “probably” his
last one in an Oregon
State men’s basketball
uniform.
Thompson made it
official Tuesday night
that his college athletic
career was over with a
social media post while
thanking all those who
had helped him along
the way.
The senior guard went
out on a high note, help-
ing the Beavers win three
straight Pac-12 tourna-
ment games to claim the
tournament title and the
conference’s automatic
berth in the NCAA Tour-
nament. OSU then won
three NCAA tournament
games to reach the Elite
Eight for the first time
since 1982.
He averaged 15.7
points, 4.0 rebounds and
3.9 assists as a senior
and was named to the
all-conference team.
Thompson and all
NCAA Division I seniors
had the option to re-
turn after athletes were
granted an additional
year of eligibility due to
the pandemic.
Fellow senior guard
Zach Reichle has not yet
announced his plans
for the coming year. He
was celebrated along
with Thompson in senior
night ceremonies. Senior
center Roman Silva, not
recognized during those
ceremonies, is expected
to return.
Both Thompson and
Reichle achieved their
bachelor’s degrees and
are working toward a
master’s. Thompson
said he wants to get into
sports broadcasting,
which is the focus of his
master’s in interdisciplin-
ary studies.
Thompson finishes
his time with the Bea-
vers seventh on Oregon
State’s career scoring list
with 1,716 points, third in
assists (499), third in min-
utes (4,301), first in starts
(127), fifth in free throws
made (444) and eighth in
3-pointers (168).
— Albany Democrat-Herald
NFL
Trevor Lawrence
signs with Adidas
The projected No. 1
overall pick in Thursday’s
NFL draft has found a
sponsorship home.
Former Clemson star
QB Trevor Lawrence has
signed a multiyear part-
nership deal with Adi-
das, the two announced
Wednesday morning.
“I’ve always been a
fan of Adidas and I’m ex-
cited to join the team as I
take the next step in my
career,” Lawrence said in
a press release. “Adidas’
brand attitude of ‘Impos-
sible Is Nothing’ is a mes-
sage that really resonates
with me both on and off
the field. We are build-
ing for the future and I
can’t wait to see what lies
ahead with this partner-
ship.”
At Clemson, Lawrence
recorded a 34-2 record as
a starter for the program
and led them to the Col-
lege Football Playoff in
each of his three seasons.
Clemson reached the title
game two of those three
years, winning once in
2018.
By signing with the
Portland-based giant,
Lawrence joins a well-es-
tablished group of quar-
terback stars for the
brand alongside Patrick
Mahomes, Dak Prescott
and Aaron Rodgers.
— The Oregonian
PREP TENNIS
Chemistry on and off the court
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Bend’s Alex Johnston, left, and Marin Montagne compete during a match against Mountain View on Tuesday night at Bend High.
Bend High girls doubles team of Alex Johnston and Marin Montagne returns to winning ways
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
T
wo springs ago when filling
out the lineup for the district
tournament, Bend High girls
tennis coach Kevin Collier decided to roll
the dice and throw a couple of freshmen
into the doubles bracket, “just to see what
would happen.”
“I think we have played pretty well. It would
be disappointing if we lost to the people we
have already beat. I hope we keep winning.”
— Marin Montagne, after winning her doubles match
with Alex Johnston 6-3, 6-2, on Tuesday
The experiment paid off. Alex Johnston and
Marin Montagne got on a roll and rode it all the
way to the second round of the 2019 Class 6A
doubles state championships. They were one of
two all-freshman pairs in the field.
“We took a gamble,” Collier said. “They just got
hot and made it all the way to state. It was a pretty
exciting experience for them. Unfortunately they
didn’t get to go last year or this year, but hope-
fully this will give them some experience for next
year.”
Now juniors, the pair has picked up right where
they left off way back when they were first-year
high school students in 2019.
Tuesday evening Johnston and Montagne
picked up their second doubles wins in as many
matches against Mountain View’s Liliana Over-
cash and Kailei Oulette, a week after being the
only Lava Bear pair to win a match against Sum-
mit.
In a shortened six-week, six-match season, the
only teams on Bend’s schedule are Mountain View
and Summit.
See Tennis / A6
NFL DRAFT
Ducks’ Sewell could be foundational
pillar for the team that drafts him
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
EUGENE — Penei Sewell’s
life is about to change dramati-
cally as he gets drafted into the
NFL.
The former Oregon left
tackle, 2019 Outland Tro-
phy winner and unanimous
All-American is widely pro-
jected to be the first offensive
lineman selected in this year’s
draft, which begins Thursday
night, marking the annual pas-
sage of over 250 young men
embarking on their profes-
sional careers.
At just 20 years old Sewell is
one of the youngest players in
this year’s draft and also among
the least experienced, with only
21 career college games due to
a high ankle sprain he suffered
midway through his freshman
season in 2018 and opting out
of the 2020 season.
Yet he’s also one with among
the greatest upsides and po-
tential, drawing comparisons
to All-Pros and even Hall of
Famers.
Sewell felt his performance
at Oregon’s pro day earlier this
month solidified his spot as
the top offensive tackle in this
year’s draft. He’s spent the bet-
ter part of six months training
at Proactive Sports Perfor-
mance to further refine and en-
hance his skills to be prepared
to take the field for his future
pro team.
The player that Mario Cris-
tobal recruited and was con-
vinced was going to be a pro-
gram-changer proved to be.
Sewell led the Ducks with 58
knockdowns in 2019 and led
the nation with a run-blocking
grade of 95.3 from Pro Foot-
ball Focus and was third with
a pass-blocking grade of 91.1.
His career run-blocking grade
of 94.8 from PFF is highest in
this year’s draft class.
Part of the pre-draft process
involves pundits, analysts and
prognosticators assessing and
weighing in on players who
they overwhelmingly have
never met, never talked to and
rarely watch at length on tape.
See Sewell / A7
John Bazemore/AP file
Oregon’s Penei Sewell poses with the Outland Trophy for being the na-
tion’s best interior lineman, in Atlanta in 2019. Sewell could be a foun-
dational piece for whichever team drafts him, and the tackle is likely to
be drafted high in the first round on Thursday night.
COLLEGE SPORTS | COMMENTARY
Have Pac-12 presidents not learned from the Larry Scott debacle?
BY JOHN CANZANO
The Oregonian
I took a phone call recently
from a concerned party who is
worried that the Pac-12 Con-
ference presidents and chancel-
lors may not have learned from
the Larry Scott debacle.
I mean, come on?
Is it possible that a line of
educators and campus lead-
ers weren’t paying attention in
class?
Said the longtime Power
Five administrator: “The presi-
dents look like they don’t know
what they’re doing. Have they
not learned from the last 10-
plus years?”
That’s become the question
to ask as the Pac-12 moves
toward replacing Scott, who
spent lavishly himself while
he guided the conference into
football obscurity. The Har-
The (Pac-12) presidents are apparently focused on an unprecedented move — splintering
the commissioner role into two parts. One of them a (former Pac-12 commissioner Larry)
Scott-like suit in charge of business operations and the other a campus liaison focused on
gluing the athletic departments to the conference.
vard-educated tennis player
didn’t understand the sport. He
didn’t grasp what it took to be
successful and so it seems the
correction here would be to
make a football-first substance
hire who would forge deep
connections with the 12 con-
ference campuses.
Except, that’s not at all what
is apparently happening.
San Jose Mercury News
watchdog Jon Wilner reported
the troubling details. The pres-
idents are apparently focused
on an unprecedented move —
splintering the commissioner
role into two parts. One of
them a Scott-like suit in charge
of business operations and the
other a campus liaison focused
on gluing the athletic depart-
ments to the conference.
As ideas go, it’s a bust.
On one hand, the Pac-12
CEO Group seems to under-
stand there are multiple facets
to the job. But on the other,
they appear to miss that other
major conferences have already
addressed this by outsourcing
key business negotiations to
specialized agencies. I under-
stand the Pac-12 likes the idea
of a two-headed regime, but
in this, they’re attempting to
repair a model that is already
working effectively in other
conferences.
The SEC, for example,
doesn’t have Greg Sankey out
front negotiating its television
rights himself. It contracted
with Evolution Media and Cre-
ative Artists Agency as “exclu-
sive media advisors” for that
purpose. That allowed Sankey
to continue to act as a galvaniz-
ing leader focused on putting
the needs of the conference
campuses first. Also, the SEC
isn’t paying two executives with
two complete compensation
packages.
The Pac-12 desperately
wants to position itself as dif-
ferent than the other major
college conferences. It values
the Olympic sports more than
others. It wants to be viewed
as progressive, I get it. Truth
is, outside of Stanford (and
maybe UCLA and Cal in some
cases), almost any athlete that
can get in academically to an
SEC, Big Ten or ACC school
can get into the nine other Pac-
12 universities.
It’s not that different really.
I’m left wondering if the
presidents and chancellors fail
to understand the challeng-
ing shape they’re in right now.
They tried a decade ago to
pretend they were different by
hiring a stuffy sports executive
who didn’t understand a lick
about football.
See Pac-12 / A6