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After rough year, men look to build in offseason

Oregon State won just three Pac-10 games this year, but looks forward to returning four starters

Frank Hoaglin

Issue date: 3/15/07 Section: Sports
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Wesley Washington and the Beavers struggled in a tough Pac-10 conference this year, winning just three games.
Media Credit: Andrew Burton
Wesley Washington and the Beavers struggled in a tough Pac-10 conference this year, winning just three games.
On the heels of a disappointing season that culminated in a 70-51 loss to Cal in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament, the Oregon State Beavers look to build on a season of frustration and despair, a season that ended tying the school record with 21 losses.

"The memory of this season should be a driving force for us to excel next season and pushing harder than we ever have in order to come out victorious for next year," said Beaver guard Angelo Tsagarakis.

Playing in a tough Pac-10 conference that sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament, the Beavers ended the season with three conference victories, two against a lowly Arizona State team, and one a late season home win against Washington, a team that later went on to defeat No. 3 UCLA to end the season.

"The first thing that we can take from this season is the deep feeling of failure and frustration that no player wants to go through in their career," said Tsagarakis.

OSU critics say that the Beavers aren't that far away, reminiscing of last year's Washington State team that lost 17 games and were a substantially young team ending the season. This year the Cougars turned things around, ending the season second in the Pac-10 and tying the school record with 25 wins.

"We learned a lot about our guys," said forward Marcel Jones. "I don't think we ever stopped fighting, but you never want to have a season like that. I know the guys know that Washington State turned it around, and we know that we are capable of the same thing."

Next year's team will have a bit of a different look, losing Seniors Kyle Jeffers, the team's leader in rebounding, and Michael Johnson, a defensive role player that usually came off the bench. Junior forward Sasa Cuic has also hinted at leaving the program. The Beavers, however, will add Junior C.J. Giles, a four-star transfer from Kansas who will have a big role in the OSU offense.

"The future is always great for us because we have young guys," Jones said. "We'll see with C.J. coming in and the freshman class coming in. We'll see how everybody responds."
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