2025 Year in Review Part II
Editor’s note: Part I of this story can be found here.
Ten stories that deserve a second look (plus two)
(Listed chronologically)
Chris Casey is calling it quits after a highly successful 43-year coaching career
Jan. 13:
Under Chris Casey, players were ‘better human beings than when they went in’
Through 43 years coaching football, Casey had also been a mentor and role model to his players — much like his younger brother Pat with Oregon State (and George Fox) baseball. His retirement from George Fox was well-deserved, but still a loss to the profession.
The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.
Tom Johnson with his team after winning game No. 700 of his high school coaching career
Feb. 2.
Tom Johnson hits the 700 milestone, but it is not just about the victories
Johnson reached the 700-victory mark at Barlow, and would go on to claim the first state championship of his career six weeks later. Much like Chris Casey, he has been more than a coach to his players.
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Freshman guard Ally Schimel has been the biggest surprise contributor for Oregon State women’s basketball this season (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)
Feb. 27.
Ally Schimel reached for the stars: ‘She is an inspiration to all of us’
Schimel is a true Cinderella story — a graduate of tiny Corbett High who walked on at Oregon State, earned a scholarship midway through her freshman season and was first reserve on a Beaver team that won the WCC post-season championship.
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Chris Botti has one Grammy and five Grammy nominations to his credit, but playing before live audiences is what floats his boat (courtesy Chris Botti)
April 10.
The most famous person from Corvallis plays the trumpet — and how
Chris Botti isn’t an athlete, but he is a big-time entertainer — a Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter who has played to audiences around the globe for four decades.
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Stan Love was a two-time first-team All-Pac-8 selection and ranks second on Oregon’s career list for scoring average at 21.1 points per game (courtesy Oregon sports communications)
May 12.
With all those who knew Stan, it was a Love story
UO basketball legend and former NBA player Stan Love was a gentle giant, all the way to his death at age 76.
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Former Oregon State great Travis Bazzana has been idled with an oblique injury for nearly two months, but his return to the Akron RubberDucks — Double-A affiliate for the Cleveland Guardians — is imminent (courtesy Grace Hoppel/Akron RubberDucks)
July 11.
Bazzana is coming back determined to ‘show what I can do’
Bazzana, the former Oregon State All-American second baseman and No. 1 pick in the 2024 MLB draft, was rehabbing from an oblique injury when I caught up with him at the Guardians’ spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz.
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With his NBA career over, former Trail Blazer Meyers Leonard has turned to country music to light his fire (courtesy Meyers Leonard)
July 16.
After making amends, Meyers Leonard is living out his country song
Controversy and injury ended his NBA career early, but ex-Blazer Leonard has found solitude in family and a passion for song-writing, singing and guitar-playing country music. In his first major interview since “the incident” in 2021, the 7-footer ventured into emotional territory.
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From left, Jan, Simone, Donny and Isaac Reynolds during the halftime ceremony
Sept. 17.
Spartans give Donny Reynolds his due
Reynolds, arguably the greatest football player in Corvallis High history, became an All-Pac-8 halfback at Oregon and made it to the major leagues in baseball. Here is a thorough look at Donny and his upbringing in one of the few black families in town in the 1960s.
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Andre Miller gives instructions to, from left, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Marcus Camby and Brandon Roy during Miller’s days with the Trail Blazers (courtesy Bruce Ely/Trail Blazers)
Sept. 24.
I went to great lengths to track down Miller, the Trail Blazers’ point guard from 2009-11, because very little is out there in terms of interviews with the shy, soft-spoken guy who spent 17 years in an NBA uniform. This story should fill in the blanks for the Blazer faithful.
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Mouse Davis (right) and son Brad laugh it up during Mouse’s big night at the Portland State Pavilion (courtesy Jack Lewy)
Nov. 17.
Mouse’s Men gather to pay tribute to their coach, mentor and friend
Nearly 100 former players and coaches were on the scene at Portland State to pay tribute to legendary football coach Mouse Davis, at 93 still smiling and cracking wise.
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Brandon played the first six of his 11 NBA seasons in Cleveland, making two All-Star Game appearances. Here he is shown using his incredible hops to dunk one over Scottie Pippen (33) and Steve Kerr (25) (courtesy Cleveland Cavaliers)
Nov. 25.
Terrell Brandon: A class act on and off the court
Former NBA All-Star Brandon, a life-long Portlander, has turned his attention to fatherhood and a podcast series as he hits the mid-50s.
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With a husband, son and family life she has always wanted, Tonya Harding Price looks positively at life these days
Dec. 12.
Tonya Harding Price at 55: ‘I couldn’t ask for more’
The former figure skating great will never live down the Nancy Kerrigan incident, but she has moved ahead to a peaceful point in her life as an under-the-radar mother and wife living in southwest Washington.
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Readers: what are your thoughts? What was your favorite story that I wrote in 2025? I would love to hear about which one(s) in the comments below.
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