JoJo stays with the Beavers, and bro Jemai is coming, too

New coach Justin Joyner expects Lake to be the team leader and an All-Pac-12 performer for the Bears next season (courtesy OSU sports communications)

There may be a more popular current Oregon State athlete in the eyes of Beaver Nation, but Josiah “JoJo” Lake II is certainly on the short list.

After Wayne Tinkle’s dismissal as head basketball coach following the 2025-26 season, all but one of the non-seniors transferred to other programs.

The one who stayed was the one mattered most.

“I felt like this is the place I want to be,” Lake told me this week of his decision to finish his career at Oregon State. “It is home. It is where I feel welcome. I have Beaver Nation behind me. I am super excited to go forth through this process.”

The last players to complete four years of basketball at Oregon State were Ethan Thompson and Zach Reichle in 2020-21. Since then, Coach Wayne Tinkle had a revolving door of players come through the program.

The one constant has been Lake, who was the Beavers’ captain, floor leader and best player during a splendid junior season. He led the team in scoring (13.1 points per game) assists (4.2) and steals (1.4), shooting .462 from the field, .381 from 3-point range and .824 from the free throw line. Lake was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team.

But equally important was Lake’s leadership role and the example he set for teammates in his first full season as starting point guard. Nobody competed harder. Nobody wanted to win more than the 6-2 Tualatin High grad.

In his three years at Oregon State, Lake has played with 34 teammates. He has had to adjust to a nearly all new roster each season. Lake will do the same next season, but the adjustment will be even greater with the arrival of a new coaching staff led by Justin Joyner.

In the post-game press conference after the Beavers’ season-ending loss to Gonzaga in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament, Lake was moved to tears talking about playing for Tinkle for the last time.

“I am super grateful for him as a person who has been very important for me,” Lake said then. “I couldn’t ask for a better guy to take me under his wing and trust me through the whole process.”

“That was real emotion,” says his father, Josiah Lake Sr. “He knew it would be the last game with Coach Tinkle. He was still trying to figure out what the future looked like. There were a lot of moving parts.”

Now Lake will take on the challenge of playing for Joyner, an assistant coach on Michigan’s national championship squad this past season. He likes the coach’s cred.

“He brings something that our other coaches don’t have — the experience of winning a national title,” Lake says. “He will have a bit of an edge on some other coaches in terms of his approach to doing things. I am super excited about this next step on my journey.”

Lake was a Beaver bred. His father was a reserve guard for Eddie Payne at Oregon State from 1998-2000. Like his son, Lake Sr. joined the Beavers as a walk-on, earning a scholarship early in the first of his two seasons. JoJo, younger brother Jemai and older sister Jailah accompanied Josiah Sr. and their mother, Lucretia, to many games at Gill Coliseum during their childhood. (Jailah, now 22, is cheer captain at Central Washington.)

Jemai (left) and JoJo were gym rats from a young age (courtesy Josiah Lake Sr.)

“JoJo grew up watching the Beavers and envisioning himself playing for Oregon State,” his father says.

(Full disclosure, Lucretia “Fancy” Larkin was a hurdler/sprinter on Oregon’s track and field team. “It was a little adjustment for her at first wearing orange and black,” Josiah Sr., says with a chuckle, “but she is all in now.”)

Lake was the star on Tualatin teams that won 50 games along with back-to-back state 6A titles in 2022 and ’23, a two-time first-team all-tournament and all-state selection.

I first saw Lake play in the 6A state quarterfinals in 2023, leading Tualatin to a win over Beaverton en route to the championship. He told me afterward that his “dream school” was Oregon State.

https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/four-doozies-in-the-6a-state-boys-quarterfinals-at-chiles

But Lake had no Division I scholarship offers and was headed for Division II Regis in Denver until Tinkle came in with a late “preferred” walk-on offer.

“JoJo wanted to go there,” Josiah Sr. says. “I was fully supportive. I told him, ‘I am happy to pay for your school, because I know that is your dream, but nothing is guaranteed as a walk-on. You might not touch the floor. That is the risk you take.’ ”

Lake Sr. reached out to Tinkle to thank him for giving his son an opportunity.

“I just want to make sure this is not just a feel-good story, that you are taking him because he is an Oregon kid whose father played there,” Lake Sr. told him.

“No, we feel he could have a role as a freshman and maybe play eight to 10 minutes a game,” Tinkle responded.

It didn’t bother Lake Sr. that his son began his OSU career as a walk-on. He had lived it.

“As a walk-on, you have to prove yourself every single day,” he says. “I think it made (JoJo) better.”

JoJo immediately made his presence felt, averaging 15 minutes as a freshman, earning the sixth-man role and leading the team in steals. Tinkle considered him his best perimeter defender.

“That was the good thing about Coach Tinkle,” Josiah Sr. says. “In engagements we had, he was always pretty straight up about that stuff.

“I told JoJo, ‘You have to do some of the dirty work. You have to work really hard on defense. You have to rebound, to talk on D, do a lot of the little things. It is not going to be about scoring.’ He embraced that.”

By the start of his sophomore year, Lake had received a scholarship. That season he continued as sixth man and began to take on a leadership role, even off the bench. Last season, he became a full-time starter for the first time, fortifying his spot as one of the fan favorites in recent Beaver hoop history.

Former OSU guard Roberto Nelson returned to his alma mater as a member of Tinkle’s coaching staff during Lake’s freshman year. Nelson, a two-time All-Pac-10 selection during his playing days, worked often with Lake during their three seasons together.

“Josiah is the best,” Nelson says. “He is a great kid, works really hard. I loved being around him. He has a great energy about him. He is a treat. Because he is such a good kid, you don’t ever have to worry about him — on the court, off the court, in practice, outside of practice. He does all the right things. It is a blessing for a coach to have a player like him.

“I am glad he is staying to represent Oregon State. That is where his heart is at. He has God-given abilities, but the most important thing is, his (basketball) IQ is high. He knows where the ball is going to be before it gets there. More often than not, he will be in the right spot and is quick enough to get there. He has another gear. And he is going to continue to grow as a player.”

When I caught up with Tinkle at his Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, home, it was clear Lake is one of his favorites, too.

“Super proud of the progress JoJo has made in his time at Oregon State,” he said. “We were the only school at our level that gave him a shot. Didn’t hand (playing time) to him, though. He had to earn it. As a freshman, he just kept working and earned that scholarship. A lot of times when that happens, guys won’t continue to take coaching the right way, but he did.

“Starting the second half of his sophomore year, he got out of his comfort zone, and his junior year became more of a vocal leader. We needed a voice on the court. He gave that to us. It is a big reason why we won 37 games those last two years, because of that leadership.

“Love that kid. Gonna be his biggest fan moving forward.”

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Lake never entered the portal, but he had ample opportunities to transfer.

“Through his agent (Ryan Murphy of TRR Sports Management), he had quite a few schools reaching out about him,” Lake Sr. says. “They were tossing some pretty big numbers. That is one of the reasons I am impressed with him. I asked him, ‘If money were not an option, where does your heart tell you that you want to be at?’ He said, ‘Oregon State.’ I was proud of him for following what his heart was telling him.”

Well, his bank account isn’t hurting, either. Sources say JoJo, who got somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000 in rev-share/NIL funds last season, will receive a seven-figure number for his senior season. A donor, or a group of donors, stepped up to provide a much larger pool of funding than Tinkle had to offer during his final campaign in Corvallis.

“I am not allowed to share that information,” Lake said when I asked how much he had been promised. “They took care of me, and I’m happy with where I’m at right now.”

Much more than money was involved in the decision, of course. No. 1, JoJo says, was the courting he received from the new coach, who was still with the Wolverines on their way to the pinnacle of college basketball.

“Coach Joyner reaching out to me and making a lot of effort to get me to stay, that was super important to me,” Lake says. “We built a great relationship over the offseason. He was making extra efforts to see me between March Madness games. That stuck out to me. He flew out here, had dinner with me and my family. During their deep run in the tournament, he made some extra time to make sure I felt like I was valued.”

Joyner seems to know how fortunate he is to have retained Lake.

“I think he is going to be the heart and soul of the team,” OSU’s new coach tells me. “You talk about a guy who is an Oregon State man. He is going to graduate as an Oregon State Beaver. He comes from an Oregon State family. He is a heck of a player. He should be an all-conference-level player.

“But what is really great about him, he is a guy who is going to bleed for this place. He is going to play for this place, for this fan base. It is hard to find that in today’s climate. We are lucky we have one in Josiah.”

Another important piece in JoJo’s decision to stay was the family connection. His father’s legacy, of course. And the fact that Jemai has flipped his commitment from Montana with a scholarship offer from Joyner. Jemai, 6-1 and 170, was a stalwart on the Tualatin team that used a miracle finish to beat Central Catholic in the state championship game.

“(Joyner) already had Jemai in mind,” JoJo says. “He told me he wanted Jemai, whether I was here or not. Being able to play with my little brother is a bonus. I am excited to share the court, share the weight room, share college life with him. It is going to be a super special opportunity to play with him.”

Lake Sr. began his work career with a dozen years on the footwear creation side of Brand Jordan at Nike. In 2013 he opened “The Practice Facility,” a basketball training facility in Tigard.

Josiah Lake Sr (left) has been a major inspiration and influence on JoJo’s basketball career (courtesy Josiah Lake Sr.)

“We do a lot of camps and clinics and have a youth club program of boys and girls teams,” he says.

It was there that the Lake boys got serious about playing basketball and, in later years, began to enjoy playing together.

“I am super excited about Jemai becoming a Beaver,” Lake Sr. says. “That was his dream school as well. Part of that had to do with the legacy of me playing, and then his brother playing there, too. Going down to Gill and watching games and feeling the energy — he wanted to be a part of that.

“They have been dreaming of playing together for the Beavers since they were youngsters. That was a huge part of why JoJo stayed. I am excited it worked out the way it did.”

Jemai, who turned 18 on Thursday, was the OSAA 6A Player of the Year. He scored 27 points in the state championship game and averaged 20.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Timberwolves this season.

“The boys are similar in a lot of ways, but different, too,” their father says. “Jemai has grown up watching JoJo play, so he has learned a lot from his on-court composure, his (basketball) IQ, his leadership style. Jemai is a little more of a natural scorer, but both are good defenders. Jemai is still growing. Our family are late bloomers (height-wise).”

As youngsters, Josiah II (left) and Jemai were Beaver fans because of their father’s legacy (courtesy Josiah Lake Sr.)

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In May and early June, JoJo spent a month in Los Angeles working out with trainer Nate Gonzales.

“We worked out three times a day at Loyola Marymount,” he says. “Got in some good scrimmaging and weight-lifting. We worked out with guys from different colleges represented by my agency and other agencies. It was a good experience.”

Joyner has brought in 12 new faces — nine through the portal, plus 6-9 JC transfer Kahu Treacher, 6-11 prep star Yabi Aklog and Jamei — to join JoJo on the OSU roster. They will converge on Corvallis on June 20 for a week-long training camp “to get all the new pieces in the door and get everyone up to speed,” JoJo says.

Lake Sr. believes it will all work out.

“Today’s landscape in college athletics is hard,” he says. “JoJo has been through a major rebuild every year he has been at Oregon State. The good part is, it has made him understand how to play with different types of players. I am super proud of the leader he has become. He is a team guy. He is inclusive. He loves his teammates. He loves his coaches.”

The Beavers (17-16 last season) will face tough competition in the new Pac-12. Five programs won 20 or more games a year ago — Gonzaga (31-4), Utah State (29-7), San Diego State (22-11), Colorado State (21-13) and Boise State (20-12) — and Texas State was 19-13. Only Fresno State (13-19) and Washington State (12-20) had losing records.

“It is going to be a big test for us to see what we are capable of and if we can hold our own with these great programs with great (homecourt) atmospheres,” Lake says. “We have to focus on ourselves, on how we can get better every single day, so when it comes to November, we are ready to go.”

Lake spent last season at about 185 pounds.

“I am at 193 right now,” he says. “I am definitely stronger. (OSU basketball strength and conditioning coach) Chandler Morrison has done a phenomenal job of keeping me healthy and ready to go.”

Since the season ended, Lake says he has focused on “working on my pace with offensive play.”

“The past couple of weeks, Coach Joyner and his staff have had me feel out the offense we are going to run, and taking some of the shots I will have to take,” he says. “Through the summer, I will be working on my overall game, trying to be the best I can be.”

When I ask his expectations for next season, he says he doesn’t have them on an individual basis.

“It is a little too soon to write those down,” Lake says. “My biggest expectation for myself is to lead this team the best way I can. I am going to have to be the vocal leader out there, and I will challenge the guys around me to also be leaders after they step on campus.”

Josiah Lake II (left) and younger brother Jemai will realize a childhood dream of playing basketball together at Oregon State (courtesy Josiah Lake Sr.)

Josiah Lake II is on pace to graduate in 2027 with a degree in marketing. From Oregon State, where it all started. After four years playing for the Beavers. I have a feeling he will be remembered very fondly, for not only his character and on-court performance, but for his loyalty.

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