Hamblin, Rueck Earn National Honors
CORVALLIS – Junior Ruth Hamblin is a Coaches’ All-America Finalist and head coach Scott Rueck has been named Region 8 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association announced this morning. The 10-player All-America team as well as the United States Marine Corps/WBCA Division I National Coach of the Year will be announced on Saturday April 4 in Tampa.
Hamblin was a force for the Beavers at both ends of the floor this season, scoring 12.9 points per game, and pulling down 8.6 rebounds per contest. Her total of 122 blocks this season is good for seventh in the nation and first in the conference. Hamblin blocked more shots this season than seven Pac-12 teams, and notched 12 games with five or more rejections. Hamblin’s season was highlighted by a 31-point, 16-rebound performance against Washington State, as she shot 12-for-16 from the field and blocked seven shots.
For her performance this season, Hamblin was named Pac-12 Media Player of the Year, and earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors from both the media and the coaches. The 6-foot-6 Canadian is Oregon State’s all-time leader in career blocks with 295. Her career field goal percentage of 56.4 is good for third in school history, and her 58 percent shooting this year was eighth in the nation. Hamblin has also busted into the OSU record book in rebounding, sitting seventh with 276 this season and ninth with 657 in her career.
Rueck led the Beavers to their best season in school history, as Oregon State set a school record with 27 wins en route to the program’s first ever Pac-12 title. Along the way Oregon State proved it could beat the nation’s best teams and under Rueck took down North Carolina on the road, swept Arizona State and defeated California. The Beavers were in the national rankings throughout the season, moving as high as No. 7 before ending the regular season ranked 10th. Oregon State ranks in the top 25 in the country in eleven different statistical categories, including fifth in assists per game (18.6), ninth in field goal percentage (45.4) and 13th in field goal percentage defense (35.2). The historic season led to an increase in attendance, as the Beavers averaged a Pac-12 leading 4,167 fans per game, and welcomed 7,652 fans to Gill Coliseum for the Civil War on Jan. 9, the third-largest crowd in school history.
Rueck, who was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year by both the coaches and the media, has helped engineer an incredible turnaround in the program, since taking over in 2010. The Beavers earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996 last season, and made it to the second round of the tourney for the second season in a row this year. Under his guidance, the Beavers led the Pac-12 with three All-Pac-12 honorees this season (Hamblin, Jamie Weisner and Sydney Wiese), and led the conference with four Players of the Week.
