Oregon State’s reset under Justin Joyner has plenty of moving parts, but the transfer who matters most for 2026-27 is Daniel Freitag.
That’s the kind of swing piece every rebuilding team needs. Joyner is stepping into his first head coaching job after helping Michigan win the national title as an assistant, and he’s doing it while the Beavers head back into the new Pac-12. The challenge is obvious: turn over a roster, find a new identity, and do it fast enough to matter.
The Beavers have already lived through the usual coaching-change churn. Last season’s roster took a significant hit, with multiple players leaving through the transfer portal and some important senior production walking out the door as well. Oregon State did keep guard Josiah Lake, who is back for his senior year and figures to remain a major part of whatever Joyner builds.
Around him, the roster has been remade with a little bit of everything. Oregon State brought in three 7-footers - Xavion Staton from BYU, Peteris Pinnis from Providence, and Dennis Evans from Grand Canyon - and added more help through the portal and freshman class. Jackson Rasmussen and DeShawn Glory posted strong freshman numbers at Idaho and Fresno State, respectively, while Legend Smiley was a steady first-year player at San Francisco.
Still, Freitag is the name that jumps off the page.
The 6-2 guard from Bloomington, Minnesota, barely played as a freshman at Wisconsin before breaking out at Buffalo. Last season, he averaged 19.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 36% from 3-point range. That’s a huge leap, and it’s the reason he arrives in Corvallis with real expectations attached.
Freitag did miss several games late in the season with a concussion, so health is part of the equation. But if he’s available, he should be a central figure in Oregon State’s backcourt.
He proved he can score in bunches, he can create for others, and he can take over stretches of games. The Beavers won’t need him to carry that burden every night, which is part of what makes the fit so interesting alongside Lake.
That’s really the bet Joyner and his staff are making across the board: lean on young talent, trust development, and hope a few of these players grow into something bigger. Freitag already showed he can make that kind of leap once. The question now is whether he can do it again in a new league, on a team that doesn’t need him to be the lone answer.
Oregon State isn’t being handed much in this new chapter. But Freitag gives the Beavers a guard who can change the shape of a game, and that makes him the most important transfer on the roster.
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