CORVALLIS - Oregon State’s season opens tonight, and with it comes the first real look at what the Justin Joyner era is supposed to become.
The Beavers host Weber State in the first of five straight home games, and this version of OSU barely resembles last year’s group. Josiah Lake II is the lone returner from that roster, but he gives the Beavers an important anchor after leading the team with 13.1 points per game a season ago.
Joyner is treating the opener like it carries the same weight as anything else on the schedule. He made that clear when he said, “In my mind Nov. 2 Weber State is the national championship game,” and added, “We’re going to attack every game that’s in front of us with the same focus and confidence and concentration because we know if we want to do the things that we want to do later in the season, every game is equally as important.”
The roster’s backbone is in the backcourt. Buffalo transfer Daniel Freitag is expected to be a major piece, while Fresno State transfer DeShawn Gory should give Oregon State a productive wing option. Gory said the group has already changed since arriving in the summer.
“We’ve changed since we got here in the summer to now,” Gory said. “We’re finding our identity as not just basketball players. Knowing when to score, when to be aggressive to score and when to be aggressive to pass to make a play for another player.”
Size is another major shift from a year ago. Oregon State now has four players listed at 6-foot-11 or taller, a detail Joyner and his staff believed would matter as they tried to build a team capable of competing in the new Pac-12, where Gonzaga is the runaway favorite, and getting the Beavers back to NCAA Tournament form. That size already showed up in preseason exhibitions against Michigan and Cal, two games played at very different tempos.
Joyner wants the Beavers to push the ball, play “with pace and space,” and create open looks from three-point range. But he also wants a team that can settle in and execute in the half court when the game demands it.
Lake said the group that survives the rough patches will be the one that defends and communicates at a high level.
“I think the guys who are going to play with pace and play with a lot of confidence while also getting it done on the defensive end are going to be the guys that stick through the hard parts of the games and the stretches of the game where we might be struggling,” Lake said. “Being able to guard at a high level and communicate on both sides of the ball I think is something that the coaches are really making a big emphasis on because it’s going to be important in March.”
The schedule gives Oregon State a chance to settle in at home. The Beavers have 11 home games and no true road games in nonconference play, which means plenty of opportunity to build momentum while introducing the new roster to a fan base that has seen attendance dip in recent seasons. According to athletic director Kevin Griffin, season ticket sales are “slightly ahead” of where they were last year.
Joyner believes the team fits the community it represents.
“We have a team of players that very much embodies the spirit of Corvallis, the spirit of Oregon State,” Joyner said. “They’re going to fight.
They’re going to bleed for this place. They’re going to do everything in their power to make this place relevant.
Once we become relevant, then we got to become good. If we can get to be good, let’s go ahead and be great.”
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