Oregon State, Tulsa savoring new beginnings

Tulsa and Oregon State could use a fresh start.

Tulsa and Oregon State could use a fresh start.

They'll get it Monday night when they open the season in Corvallis, Ore.

The host Beavers, who made a run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight in March 2021, went 3-28 overall last season and lost their final 18 games.

"We've just gotta make sure we get back to that type of culture again and learn and grow through all the tough times we had (last) year, and I know we'll be stronger for it," Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said.

The Beavers return just four players from last season's squad, led by forward Glenn Taylor Jr., who averaged 6.9 points as a freshman. OSU already had a setback as projected backcourt starter Christian Wright, a transfer from Georgia, suffered a knee injury and is out indefinitely. The Beavers also added forward Dzmitry Ryuny, who transferred from San Francisco, to go with nine freshmen.

The Beavers bonded over an 11-day summer exhibition tour of Italy.

"We're going to be really young, but the experiences we had over the summer were incredible in building our chemistry and getting our culture back," Tinkle said.

Tulsa, which went 11-20 last season, has a new coach in Eric Konkol, who spent the previous seven seasons at Louisiana Tech.

The Golden Hurricane have eight returners, including starters Sam Griffin and Anthony Pritchard.

Griffin was second on the team with 14.6 points per game and Pritchard started at the point as a freshman before being sidelined by a foot injury.

Tulsa added transfer Brandon Betson, who averaged 14.2 points and 2.8 assists a season ago at Chicago State.

"Their intentions have been great and their effort has been really good," Konkol said. "Of course, the execution piece is the one that you keep working on, and that process is going to be ongoing. There are some staples that we've implemented, there are some things that we absolutely want to be great at, there are statistical measures that we're making every day in practice and in the two scrimmages that we've had, and we've been inconsistent. We're searching for that consistency."

--Field Level Media