Oregon State’s trip to Canada comes with a simple purpose for senior guard Josiah Lake: find out what this team really looks like against someone else.
The Beavers are set for a summer tour this week, with a stop at Nike Headquarters before heading north. Oregon State will play Trinity Western on August 18th, then face the University of Victoria on August 20th and 22nd. For Lake, the value of the trip is less about the itinerary and more about the first real test.
"I think the best thing we can take from this trip is just to see what we need to work on, see what we need to get better at as a team and personally as well. I'm really excited to see us against another team. We've been going against each other for the last couple of weeks, and it's been super competitive."
That competitiveness has already shown up inside the practice facility, where there’s a clear edge to this new-look group. When the team was observed last Tuesday, the session was labeled a light day after a punishing double workout the day before, but the pace still jumped off the floor. Even with the lighter workload, the group was playing fast and with bite.
Lake is the lone returner from last season’s roster, and he made the choice to stay in Corvallis to help Justin Joyner and his staff lay down the program’s next foundation. He even helped bring his younger brother, Jemai, into the fold.
Lake likes what he sees so far.
"I love how we look. I think we're really strong across the board.
I think we're going to have eight real starters. I think the lineup's just going to be different every single night, or it could change throughout who's playing well and what we're facing."
The reshaped guard room should only give him more room to grow. Joyner added Daniel Freitag from Buffalo, Legend Smiley from USF, Chris Johnson from UCF, and Jemai Lake, giving Josiah more chances to operate off the ball. He said the staff has even put a two-dribble limit on some actions for him and a few other guards, a tweak that’s forcing him to process the game differently.
"The coaches actually gave me and a couple of the other guards a two-dribble limit on some of our actions. So I think that's helping me see the game through another lens without having to bounce the ball as many times. I'm just really excited to see how the guards keep getting better with that constraint."
Having Jemai in the gym has added another layer to the experience. Josiah said it’s something he and his brother talked about years ago, and now it’s happening at Oregon State, the same place where their father, Josiah Lake Sr., once walked on.
"Seeing him in the gym with me is something that's honestly a dream come true. It's something that, looking back a couple of years ago, was actually something we talked about. It's cool that it's happening right now."
Joyner believes Jemai can help right away. He said the freshman is one of two first-year players on the roster, along with center Yabi Aklog from Eastside Catholic in Sammamish, Washington.
"I think Jemai is a guy that you can probably play for it right away. I mean, he's really fast, he's quick, he plays with toughness.
He plays with intelligence. He's gonna be a really good player here."
Lake has already lived through plenty of change during his Oregon State career, watching teammates and friends leave for other programs along the way. Now he’s back for one final season with a new coaching staff, a new roster, and a new conference, betting on both his own development and the Beavers’ ability to make noise in the PAC-12.
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