Men's Basketball Opens Season
November 16, 1998
Corvallis, Ore. -
STORYLINE: The 97th edition of Oregon State University mens basketball officially begins Thurs., Nov. 19 at 7:07 p.m. The Beavers will host the Idaho State Bengals out of the Big Sky Conference at Ralph Miller Court in Gill Coliseum.
TENTATIVE STARTERS: IDAHO STATE (6-20 in 1997-98, 2-14 in Big Sky) F--23 Ammer Johnson, 6-4, Jr., JC Transfer C--44 Odell Stokes, 6-7, Sr., 6.3 pts, 5.5 reb G--15 Chadd Sukut, 6-0, Jr., 2.7 pts, 1.0 ast G--20 Kevin Sweetwyne, 6-2, Jr., JC Transfer G--33 Brandon Hearvey, 6-1, So., 4.4 pts, 2.4 rebOREGON STATE (13-17 in 1997-98, 3-15 in Pac-10) F--12 Sasa Petrovic, 6-10, Sr., 1.3 pts, 1.3 reb F--34 Iyan Walker, 6-7, Jr., 3.7 pts, 2.1 reb C--54 George von Backstrom, 7-0, Jr., 1997-98 Redshirt G-- 4 Deaundra Tanner, 6-2, So., 9.0 pts, 3.0 ast G--31 Ramunas Petraitis, 6-3, Jr., JC Transfer
OSU VS. IDAHO STATE: This is only the second meeting between the Beavers and Bengals, with ISU winning the previous encounter, 55-49, in Pocatello during the 1958-59 season. Oregon State is 23-5 (.821) all-time against current Big Sky Conference members.
SEASON OPENERS: Oregon State is looking to post its third consecutive season opening victory. The Beavers defeated Cal State-Northridge last season, 91-79, and beat Portland to open the 1996-97 campaign, 81-64. OSU is 13-6 in season openers since the start of the 1979-80 season. The Beavers have opened away from Gill Coliseum twice this decade, losing at Bradley, 69-64, to start the 1994-95 season, and falling to Santa Clara in the Rose Garden, 50-45, to open 1995-96.
HOME OPENERS: Oregon State has won 20 of its last 21 home openers in Gill Coliseum, a winning percentage of .952. The Beavers only loss in those 21 dates was, 93-87, to Oklahoma in 1993-94. Teams who have fellen to OSU include Portland (3 times), New Orleans (2), Cal State-Northridge, UC Irvine, University of The Pacific, Fresno State, Marquette, Loyola Marymount, UC Santa Barbara, Boise State, Missouri, Iowa, Bradley, BYU, Eastern Washington, Texas Wesleyan, and Wyoming.
ALREADY! Nov. 19 marks the earliest regular season start ever for Oregon State. The Beavers opened the season last year Nov. 20.
BEAVERS PICKED 10TH: Media from around the West Coast have selected Oregon State 10th in the preseason Pac-10 media poll. Stanford received 36 of the possible 37 first place votes, followed by Arizona, Washington, UCLA, California (1 vote), Arizona State and Oregon tied for 6th; USC, Washington State, and Oregon State.
PAYNE ON THE GAME: "Its time for us to play. We dont know much about Idaho State, it has a new coach and a new team, and we wont have the luxury of watching tape on them before we play. There is a good chance we might get caught off guard by something, so we will need to be able to adjust. Our players are emotionally and mentally ready to go, whether we are physically is yet to be determined. We are anxious to play in a counting game and see how players react."
PAYNE ON THE TEAM: "Im excited about this team for a variety of reasons. This group of young men have been a pleasure to work with. I know we have a long way to go, but we feel good about the improvement that has been made to this point."
EDDIE PAYNE: Oregon State Head Coach Eddie Payne is in his fourth year at Oregon State and has a record of 26-59. He now has an overall record of 185-167. Payne has previously been the Head Coach at Truett-McConnell Junior College in Cleveland, Georgia; Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., and at East Carolina University. His teams at Belmont Abbey posted a mark of 103-51 in five seasons; and in four seasons at ECU he was 70-72. Payne has also been an assistant coach at South Carolina, East Carolina and Clemson. His four-year institution season-by-season record follows: 1982 at B.A. (17-10); 1983 at B.A. (15-14); 1984 at B.A. (26-11); 1985 at B.A. (21-10); 1986 at B.A. (24-6); 1992 at ECU (10-18); 1993 at ECU (13-17); 1994 at ECU (15-12); 1995 at ECU (18-11); 1996 at OSU (6-21); 1997 at OSU (7-20); 1998 at OSU (13-17).
BRICKS, STONES, ROCKS, BOULDERS: If OSUs lone preseason game to this point is any indication, the team will be able to convert free throws. OSU connected on 18 of 25 (.720) vs. Costa Rica Nov. 12, and while there is room for improvement, consider OSU finished a distant 10th in the conference last season at .603. Last year the Beavers outscored five opponents from the field, including national powers UCLA, Arizona and Utah, and lost because of its frightful free throw shooting.
THE POINT IS! Part of the reason, make that a big chunk of the reason, Beaver Head Coach Eddie Payne is optimistic about this years club is returning sophomore point guard Deaundra Tanner. The return of Tanner, who was a member of last years Pac-10 All-Freshmen Team, marks the first time Payne has had an experienced point guard to start the season at OSU. By the way, Tanner had a triple double (10 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) vs. Costa Rica, and while it is not official, he is the first Beaver to accomplish that feat since Gary Payton in the 1988-89 season opener against Portland.
WINNINGEST PROGRAMS: Oregon State enters this season as the eighth-winningest Division I program. The Beavers have 1,458 victories and trail only Kentucky (1,716), North Carolina (1,709), Kansas (1,665), St. Johns (1,554), Duke (1,550), Temple (1,496), and Syracuse (1,477).
INTERNATIONAL IMPACT: This years roster features three international players, all of whom expect to make major contributions, in fact all three are listed as tentative starters for the season opener. Sasa Petrovic of Belgrade, Yugoslavia is in his fifth year in the program, George von Backstrom of Pretoria, South Africa is in his second year, and Ramunas Petraitis of Kaunas, Lithuania is in his first year.
"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU:" Beaver mens player Ramunas Petraitis and womens player Reda Kakernaite are engaged. The two juniors plan to wait until their college careers are over before being married.
WALK THIS WAY: Head Coach Eddie Payne added walk-ons Josiah Lake of Salem, Ore., and Jeremiah Dodrill of Bandon, Ore., shortly after the first official day of practice. Lake is a 61" junior guard and Dodrill is a 66" sophomore forward.
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: The Beavers have received two national letters of intent during the week-long fall signing period, which ends Nov. 18. Brian Jackson and Mike Cokley, both of Knappa High School in Knappa, Ore. will join the club next fall. Jackson is a 610 forward who has a 21.2 career scoring average and is a member of the Orange County Registers "Fab 15." Cokley is a 510 guard who averaged 15 points, seven assists and five steals last season. The Beavers have three scholarships yet to award.
