It’s time to hoop it up in Corvallis

Four prize freshmen bolster the Oregon State women’s roster, including Crater High sensation Taylor Young (courtesy Kane Nguyen/OSU athletics)

JaMarcus Shephard and Beaver football got things started. Now Oregon State’s basketball teams want to draft off their plumes.

“There’s something special going on in Corvallis with the football team and Coach Shep,” first-year men’s basketball coach Justin Joyner said Tuesday during OSU basketball’s media day at the Portland Hilton. “They are rolling. They are putting this athletic department in a really good spot going into winter. We are excited to try to build on what they have started and run our own race at the same time.”

The start of the basketball season is just around the corner. Joyner’s Beaver men, who played an exhibition game at Michigan last Friday, have their exhibition home opener against California at 7 p.m. Saturday at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers open their regular season on Nov. 2 against Weber State at Gill.

Scott Rueck’s women, meanwhile, will unveil their team in a home exhibition against Seattle Pacific on Nov. 1. The regular-season opener is Nov. 4 against Cal Baptist, which went 23-11, won the WAC and made the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Let’s take a look at both teams. First the women:

In an era where the transfer portal has dictated mass roster turnover in most programs, Rueck has the stability provided by eight returnees, including starters Kennedie Shuler, Jenna Villa and Ally Schimel. Shuler and Villa were members of the 10-player All-WCC team in 2025-26, leading Oregon State to a 23-12 record and the WCC championship game.

Now it’s on to the first season of the new Pac-12, which will provide particular challenges from the likes of Gonzaga (24-10 last season), San Diego State (26-6) and Colorado State (26-8).

Utah State has gone 4-27 and 6-24 in coach Wesley Brooks’ two seasons, but “they are up-and-coming,” Rueck says. “He is the one coach (in the Pac-12) who hasn’t done it yet, but shows great promise to. Every other coach has won at a high level, either at a present school or previous one. It is going to be extremely competitive, and it will only get better as we go.”

The Beaver women are in a state of flux now with the uncertainty regarding the eligibility of Caterina Ferreira, the MVP of the 2025 WCC Tournament who missed all of last season following knee surgery. The application for a medical waiver for the 6-foot senior was initially denied by the NCAA. Ferreira’s representatives have filed an appeal. Time is of the essence, but there is no indication when a ruling on the appeal will come.

“We are trying to get it done before the season starts,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ferreira has been practicing with the team and said she is “close” to being fully recovered from the surgery.

“The situation is not ideal,” Rueck said,”but we are hopeful. If we are able to have Cat back, you are adding a dynamic playmaker, the ultimate veteran. There is a presence with Cat that raises everybody up. She is another coach on the floor, a lock-down defender and one of the best rebounders around. If we get Cat, it is the perfect story. If we don’t, others are going to have to step up.”

Even with Ferreira, this would be one of the shortest teams in Rueck’s 17-year run at the OSU helm.

“Typically, we have been one of the biggest teams in the country,” he said. “We top out at 6-5 (with JC transfer Mariia Ignatchenko, a native of Ukraine), with a couple of 6-3’s. It has been a long time since we haven’t had that formidable presence at the rim. We are going to have to do it different ways — maybe be more aggressive away from the basket (on defense).”

Shuler will be the floor leader for the Beavers as she enters her fourth season under Rueck. The 5-10 senior point guard averaged 12.5 points and a team-high 5.3 assists last season

“She gives us confidence as coaches and sends a great message to our recruits,” Rueck says. “It’s so fun to coach her and invest in her and watch her flourish, and set her up for as much success as we can. The way she represents Oregon State 24/7 is textbook.”

Shooting was Shuler’s Kryptonite a year ago. She was slick driving to the basket and shot .473 from the field, but made only 5 of 38 3-point attempts and shot only .567 from the free-throw line.

“During the summer, I was getting shots up every day,” Shuler told me. “I didn’t have a certain amount of get-ups. I worked with a trainer a couple of days a week, working on every aspect of my game. And on my own time, I would get shots up.”

The Beavers need Shuler to increase her 3-point accuracy if only to keep opposing defenses honest.

“She has put a premium on working on her shooting in general,” says OSU assistant coach Sydney Wiese, the former Beaver All-American who went on to play five WNBA seasons as well as professionally in Spain, Italy and Turkey. “It is the Oregon State (mode of operation) to get lots of shots up in the offseason. She has been part of that, getting into the gym and maximizing reps so when the lights are on, you know that the work’s been put in. I am proud of her for getting the reps in, whether during practice, after practice, with coaches, on her own. She is definitely taking ownership in that regard.”

Veteran point guard Kennedie Shuler predicts “Beaver Nation is going to love” freshman Taylor Young (courtesy Makayla Chase/OSU athletics)

In her first season at Oregon State after a transfer from Washington State, Villa led the team in scoring (14.9), shot .375 from beyond the arc and .881 from the foul line. The 6-1 senior played a bit out of position at the four-spot and, if Ferreira is unable to play, she will likely be there again.

If that is the case, the Beavers will probably go with four guard-and-wing types along with 6-3 sophomore Lara Alonso-Basurto in the starting lineup.

“That is pretty much what we had going on as well last year — four out, one in,” Villa said. “I get to still be a guard while also playing as a four. I stepped into that role unexpectedly last year. It makes us harder to guard. We have a lot of players capable of playing multiple positions. It is almost the whole team, which is cool.”

“Jenna is defending a post player now more than a wing, but she is such a nightmare on the other end for a post player,” Rueck said. “Jenna’s versatility is one of our strengths. She stretches the floor and creates a lot of problems for our opponents.”

Schimel, who began her career as a walk-on out of tiny Corbett High, started all 35 games as a 5-10 sophomore a year ago, a feisty defensive wing who shot a team-best .427 from 3-point range. She averaged only 3.6 attempts from distance, however, and was reluctant to put the ball on the floor and take the ball to the hole.

The granddaughter of Larry Steele — a member of the Trail Blazers’ 1977 championship team — knows she will be counted upon for more at the offensive end this season. She spent much of her summer in Corbett, doing individual training and playing pickup games at open gym with members of the boys team.

“I have worked on being more aggressive not only in my shot-making but playmaking — putting it on the floor and helping us get a bucket one way or other,” she said. “Ballhandling, making reads — that has been a huge thing to work on.”

With the loss of senior guard Tiara Bolden to graduation, “someone else is going to have to start getting more shots,” Schimel said. “But it is not so much about shooting more. It is making the right decisions and being more aggressive in that. If I get the ball and there is a slight opening, I will trust my ability and hard work that it is going to go in if I shoot it.”

The X-factor could be Alonso-Basurto, the southpaw from Spain who filled the sixth-player role last season, averaging 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in only 16.1 minutes.

“Lara works her butt off,” Villa said. “She has been in the weight room. She is really strong. She has improved her shooting and her all-around consistency. She has been working hard, and you can tell.”

“I see the next level of confidence, calm and understanding from Lara, and the way she is reading the game now,” Rueck said. “She is more under control. She understands how important her role is. I see her stepping up into that, demanding the ball around the rim, competing defensively at a different level than she was able to a year ago. That motor she plays with is so valuable to us. Now she is at ‘next level’ in efficiency throughout her overall game.”

Everyone seems impressed with the potential of the fourth freshmen — 5-9 guards Taylor Young from Crater High, and Ashley Uusitalo from Lake Washington, Wash. and 6-3 posts Evelini Smith of Sacramento and Maggie Warpus of Chenango Forks, N.Y.

“These four freshmen have played at a high level for a long time in their careers,” Rueck said. “You can see the confidence that it provides in the way they practice, the way they play.”

Young is the most decorated of the quartet, the state’s 5A Player of the Year who led the Comets to a state title while breaking the tournament scoring record. Young averaged 35 points — in high school, mind you, it is a 32-minute game — while shooting .568 from the field and .464 on treys.

“Taylor is going to make a difference right away,” Schimel said. “She has a fierceness to her game.”

Should Ferreira not gain eligibility, it is a possibility Young will get a starting nod.

“It would be great if I can start, but I will do whatever it takes to help the team win,” she said. “Whether it is starting or not, I am just going to give it my best effort.”

Young has often been running with the “ones” in practice alongside Shuler.

“Taylor is awesome,” Shuler said. “Beaver Nation is going to love her. She plays the right way. She plays hard, and she is really good. I am excited to play alongside her.”

“I have learned so much from Kennedie,” Young said. “She is such an amazing defender. I take so many notes from her. Whenever I ask a question, she is really helpful. It is going to help me in the future.”

Young and Rueck go way back. Taylor played against Rueck’s daughter Kate when they were in fifth and sixth grade (Scott’s wife Kerry was Kate’s coach). When Rueck offered a scholarship at the end of her junior year at Crater, “That was a surreal moment,” Young said. “I was thinking, ‘I’m done with recruiting. Oregon State is a place I can call home.’ A month or two later, I called and committed.”

It may have been destiny. Young’s mother, Cherish Weirsma Young, and aunt Chase Weirsma played basketball at Oregon State, and father Keith Young is also an OSU graduate.

“Taylor is homegrown, a legacy kid,” said Wiese, whose duties include tutelage with the backcourt players. “I love being around her. She brings a lot of pride and has great instincts on both sides of the ball, but especially defensively. It has been fun to work with that and to teach her how to maximize her talents with what we’re trying to do. She is so coachable. She just wants to win and help the team any way she can.”

Rueck called Young “the ultimate competitor. You see that confidence in her, her innate feel for the game. I can’t teach some of the things she does — her anticipation, her feel, the way she separates from defenders, the change of pace in her game to make her way quicker than you would imagine. On defense, she has this crazy propensity to get steals and create havoc. She is showing signs of great things right out of the gate.”

The other freshman who seems destined for early playing time is Smith, who led St. Mary’s High to a CIF-San Joaquin section title as a senior.

“She is a beast,” Schimel said. “Super physical. She’s not scared of anybody. She doesn’t care. She’s going to go at it.”

Other notes about OSU women’s basketball:

• The NCAA is now allowing all athletes five seasons of eligibility, which means Shuler and Villa would be eligible to return if desired. They had similar answers when I asked them about it.

Shuler: “It is a great opportunity, for sure, but I am undecided right now. We will see how this year goes before making a decision. But I am grateful to have that fifth year if I decide to take it.”

Villa: “That is up in the air. I would like to see what this season brings. I am hoping to get to the WNBA, which is also a factor.”

• Wiese is beginning her third season as an assistant at her alma mater.

Coaching “wasn’t part of my plan,” said Wiese, 31. “I feel now that I have a perspective that all of my experiences as a player prepared me for this, to give back to others. I loved playing; I love coaching more. I get to help people, to serve them in whatever they need. I feel very fortunate to be around these amazing young players. I have really enjoyed it so far.”

• Rueck, on the advantages of being in the new Pac-12: “I am most excited for the stability it provides us. That has been evident in recruiting more than any other area. The biggest change has been our ability to recruit to something. When there is nothing in terms of conference, it makes it challenging.”

• Villa, on the opportunity to make it to the NCAA Tournament after getting within a win in the WCC Championship game of getting there last season: “It is definitely motivation. I’ve never played in it. I am more motivated than ever. I think we can do it. This team has something special.”

• The non-league schedule is daunting, with four opponents who made the NCAA Tournament last season. On the slate are dates with Vanderbilt, which was 29-5 and reached the Sweet Sixteen a year ago; Oregon (23-13), which lost to Texas 100-58 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament; Princeton (26-4) and Fairfield (28-5), both first-round losers; Columbia (25-8), which won the Women’s WBIT; BYU (26-12), which lost to Columbia in the WBIT championship game, and Ball State (25-7).

Joyner said USF transfer Legend Smiley, who sank five 3-pointers in the exhibition at Michigan, “has a well-rounded game. He is good defensively, and he can rebound, too” (courtesy OSU athletics)

And the men:

Joyner got an early look at his team in what was a homecoming affair for him at East Lansing. Last April, he was a member of Michigan’s coaching staff under Dusty May as the Wolverines won the national championship. May is gone — he is now head coach of the Dallas Mavericks — and so is Joyner. But the latter returned last week for the exhibition against his former team and a ceremony in which he was presented with an NCAA Championship ring.

“I didn’t expect it to be so emotional for me,” said Joyner, who was an assistant at Michigan for two years. “My time at Ann Arbor, I was there essentially by myself in a two-bedroom apartment. The city of Ann Arbor, the coaching staff, those players — they were my family. To see them again, to be in those buildings, to hug those guys — it was pretty emotional. And to get the ring was a cool experience. I am proud of our guys to be able to take all of that in and get to the game with a competitive effort.”

That is putting it mildly. Oregon State fell 98-93 on Michigan’s homecourt in a game that could have gone either way. There were 18 lead changes. The Beavers shot .525 from the field and .357 from 3-point range. Michigan has a new coach — Mike Boynton — and only four returnees from a year ago, but it was still an impressive debut for Joyner’s gang.

“When you can go into the defending national champion’s gym and shoot 21 of 32 from free throws, lose the turnover margin by 10 (17 to seven) and still lose by only five, you have got a pretty good team,” OSU guard Daniel Freitag said. “We were down 13 late in the first half and went into halftime down three. It speaks to our depth, our maturity and our will to bounce back.”

“It was a great environment, great for us as a team, to get our first actual test against Michigan,” power forward Xavion Staton said. “We showed we can hang with anybody in the country. We are showing that what we are doing here in Corvallis is going to be special. I feel like we are going to be a great team, as long as we dial in on the details. We could have won that game, but we will build on it.”

DeShawn Gory, a 6-6, 170-pound sophomore transfer from Fresno State, led Oregon State with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting with eight rebounds.

“No fear going into that game at all,” Gory said. “We knew the work we had in put since getting together in June. We were battle-tested. I believe our practices are tougher than any game we’re going to have this season. We compete at a high level every day in practice. We were so ready for that game.”

Off the bench, Legend Smiley, a 6-5, 190-pound sophomore transfer from San Francisco, scored 19 points and knocked down 5 of 9 3-point attempts.

“I feel like our team gained a lot of confidence,” Smiley said. “If we clean up the mistakes, we have a 10-point win. We will probably be one of the best teams in the Pac-12.”

Joyner isn’t ready to go that far yet, not with Gonzaga, San Diego State and Utah State among the opposition. But he was pleased with what he saw at Crisler Center.

“I liked that we were tough, we were competitive and we played to our identity,” Joyner said. “Sometimes against good competition, it can bring that out of you. It is something we need to replicate — that toughness, the physicality. We had a lot of guys who used their leverage to get shots for other guys.

“I was proud of our effort. We had a chance to win it, but it is probably better that we didn’t. We need to continue to work and get better, and hope that can propel us to having a good season.”

Oregon State’s starters at Michigan were Gory, the 6-2 junior Freitag, the 7-1 sophomore Staton, 7-foot junior Dennis Evans and 6-2 senior Josiah Lake II, the latter the team’s only returning player from a year ago. The 10-man rotation included Smiley, 6-8 sophomore Jackson Rasmussen, 7-2 sophomore Peteris Pinnis, 6-3 senior Chris Johnson and 6-2 freshman Jemai Lake, Josiah’s younger brother.

“The cool thing about our roster is, we have the ability to play big, to play small,” Joyner said. “Our six guards (the Lake brothers, Freitag, Smiley and Johnson) are really good. Our three-headed monster at the five (Staton, Evans and Pinnis) is formidable. Our wing types (Rasmussen and 6-9 junior Kahu Treacher), we are going to need those guys to step up. We don’t know exactly what our rotation is going to look like, but we hope we are deep and competitive.”

Freitag, who analyzes things like a coach, is of the same mind as Joyner.

“We have six guards who could all be a starter on a Pac-12 team,” he said. “We have wings who connect with us well. We have two guys (Evans and Staton) with the super power of blocking shots at the rim. Defensively, we can switch and funnel a lot of things to the rim, because we have those two shot-blockers.

“We are versatile. One practice, it might be Jemai’s and Chris’ time. Every day, it’s somebody new. I like the offense mostly because it is free-flowing. Coach Joyner allows you to do what you’re good at.”

Gory mentions the versatility, too, and a balance among those in the rotation.

“Not everybody will score a bunch of points,” he said. “We are going to have some days where we have three guys score 20 points, or six or seven guys score in double figures. This team is very capable of that. When we are all rocking, (the opponents) are going to have some bad nights. If one guy is not going, some other guys will. The depth is the best part of our team.”

The straw that stirs the drink is Josiah, the former walk-on from Tualatin High who earned All-WCC honors as a junior last season. He will be the captain and the unabashed leader, one of the most popular athletes on campus for choosing to stay at OSU.

“We call him ‘Mr. Corvallis,’ ” Smiley said. “Josiah is a great leader. He is directing traffic, directing the guys out there. He is like a QB. He sees everything, making sure we get to all the right spots. If we make a mistake, he is the first one to see it.”

“Corvallis is his city,” Gory said. “He knows Corvallis is home. Having that guy who bleeds orange, who cares about this school way more than most of us transfers, is a huge factor. He is showing us the ropes. He is showing us Corvallis is the place to be. We are going to turn it back to what this program is supposed to be.”

Jemai Lake, the Oregon 6A Player of the Year in leading Tualatin to the state title last March, has made an immediate impact. He had eight points in 12 reserve minutes against the Wolverines.

“The cool part is, they are really good together,” Joyner said. “When they play together, they play well. When they play against each other, they are really going at each other. It is iron sharpening iron, for sure.

“They are different players. Jemai is this fearless, coming-at-you, shot-making guard who can cancel ball screens and do some things defensively. Josiah is cerebral, but at the same time he can play with pace and get downhill and make 3’s. He is a little more controlled. They are a balance of each other, and they balance out the rest of our roster. It has been fun with those guys enjoying the process of playing together.”

The Lakes played with each other on Tualatin’s 2023 state championship team — Josiah as a senior, Jemai as a freshman.

“This is a full-circle moment for us,” Josiah said. “My brother motivates me a lot, seeing him in the gym, seeing him on campus. I always thought he was going to be better than me. I still think that. He is a really good player. He was overlooked by the previous (coaching) staff, so he has a really big chip on his shoulder. He wants to come out and prove to Oregon State that he can do it as well.”

Gory, who averaged 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds as a freshman at Fresno State, will be in the thick of things at OSU.

“He can score in so many ways,” Joyner said. “We are trying to help him become a better shooter from the perimeter, but he has the ability to put pressure on the rim in the halfcourt and in transition. He can draw fouls and has an uncanny ability to put the ball in the basket from interesting angles and spots on the floor.

“We are challenging him to get better on the defensive end and in rebounding the ball, but he is a fun player to watch. Our fans are going to love him.”

Said Gory: “I am a really good scorer, but I am a playmaker as well. I am going to find some lobs to my bigs and find some guys for 3’s this year. I am going to play winning basketball.”

Fresno State transfer DeShawn Gory, who led Oregon State with 20 points and eight rebounds in the exhibition at Michigan, said “depth is the best part” of this Beaver team (courtesy OSU athletics)

If there is a surprise to the coaching staff, it might be with Staton, who played sparingly at BYU as a freshman, in part due to injury. A consensus four-star recruit out of high school (Sierra Vista in Las Vegas as a junior, Utah Prep as a senior), Staton started the Michigan game at the four alongside Evans.

“Xavion is on a really good run,” Joyner said. “He is starting to look like the guy all the blue bloods recruited out of high school. His activity level, his personality and leadership — he has a chance to be really special.”

Freitag averaged 19.8 points as a sophomore at Buffalo last season, and he will be counted upon to supply some offense this season. Will that be his biggest role?

“After a successful summer of doing quite a bit of scoring, I thought so,” he said. “But through the fall, my scoring has taken a step back in practice. In the exhibition, I had only nine points (on 2-for-6 shooting in 19 minutes). It has made me realize we have depth and everything we need. I have always prided myself on not being one-dimensional. If it is scoring one night, facilitating another and if it is just cheering (his teammates) on, I am going to do it.”

Gory said that is a common theme through this group of players who, with one exception, weren’t a member of the team last season.

“Winning is the goal for everybody,” he said. “Nobody cares who starts, who comes off the bench, who doesn’t play as long as we get the win. That’s all I’ve heard from all 13 of our guys.”

Other notes about OSU men’s basketball:

• Joyner reflected on the new Pac-12, which includes Gonzaga, San Diego State and Utah State.

“It is a top five or six league in the country — a monster league,” Joyner said. “In KenPom and NET rankings, it is one or two points behind the ACC. Gonzaga has been in two (NCAA) championship games the last 10 years. San Diego State was in the finals (in 2023). Utah State won the Mountain West last season.

“Those teams are revving and ready to go. The top of the league is big-time, and there is little drop-off to the middle and the perceived bottom. It is going to be a grind every night, with big-time road environments.”

• Oregon State has a Civil War matchup with Oregon scheduled for Nov. 19 at Moda Center.

“It is a heck of a game, a game this state needs,” Joyner said. “Credit to (Oregon) for allowing us to make it happen. We are excited about it. Should be a competitive game. (The Ducks are) a good program, and we feel we are on the rise as well.”

• Oregon State’s non-conference slate also includes games with Santa Clara, which was 25-9 last season and lost to Kentucky 89-84 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament; New Mexico (25-11), which lost 71-63 to Michigan State in the second round; Cal Baptist (25-9), the WAC tournament champion, which lost 68-60 to No. 4 seed Kansas in the first round; Tulsa (28-8), which lost to Auburn in the NIT championship game and Arizona State (17-16).   

• In September, the Beavers took a week-long “international trip” to British Columbia, where they played three exhibition games and “did a lot of bonding,” Gory said.

“We crossed a bridge together — I’m afraid of heights -- it was no man left behind,” he said. “Everybody had to cross the bridge, so we did that. We went whale-watching. In California, there are no whales in sight at all — maybe at the San Diego Zoo or Aquarium. Seeing a whale on a boat together as a team — we bonded really well. It was an amazing trip.”

• Smiley is familiar with Oregon State. While with USF, he sank six 3’s against the Beavers in the quarterfinals of the WCC Tournament last March, a game the Beavers won 78-77.

• How did Smiley get his given name?

“My dad liked Michael Jordan,” he said. “My mom, they had a little back and forth, and they came up with ‘Legend.’ They said I was going to be a legend. I am going to live up to that.”

• Staton was asked if he is comfortable in his new surroundings.

“I am really enjoying Corvallis,” he said. “It is really beautiful. The students have all come back, and that place is just rocking. I am excited to have a home game on Saturday to show what we have been building.”

He offered this prediction: “We take it day by day and game by game, but we are looking to win the Pac-12. I’ll say that now. I feel like we can get it done.”

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