Mike Hass NFL Draft Information

With the combine going on the last weekend, here's a couple of articles on Mike Hass relating to the draft.

Buccaneers - Spotlight on the Draft: Mike Hass

The Oregonian - 40-yard time not of Hass' essence

Tenths of seconds are a big deal at the NFL Scouting Combine, but Mike Hass' agent questions how important they are to the big picture.

The wide receiver from Oregon State ran two relatively slow 40-yard-dash times -- 4.61 and 4.62 seconds, unofficially -- Sunday at the combine.

According to agent Scott Smith, Hass showed off his hands and his route-running ability, and he reportedly wowed the 15 NFL teams that interviewed him during the four-day combine at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

Article out of Miami on Gary Payton

For those who might be interested, here's an article on Gary Payton who is a member of the Miami Heat.

ContraCostaTimes.com - No. 17: Gary Payton

From Skyline, Payton moved on to Oregon State, developing into a collegiate star under longtime Beavers coach Ralph Miller. At OSU, he blossomed into a point guard who combined a scorer's mentality with the ability to set up others for easy points.

But it was Payton's defense that really left an impression, earning him a self-explanatory nickname: "The Glove."

"He was an intimidating defender," former Cal coach Lou Campanelli said. "He could really take your point guard and essentially take him out of the offense. He had great instincts, great hands."

Football News from the GT Blog

Cliff Kirkpatrick and Brooks Hatch have a nice little blog going. Yesterday they posted that CB Aaron Miller has left the team as well as a punter, Jake Harry.

Here's the details from their blog:

Gazette-Times OSU Blog - Football notes

The Oregon State football team recently put out an updated roster, and there are two names missing. Cornerback Aaron Miller and punter Jake Harry are gone.

Miller was a junior college transfer who played on special teams last season. He didn't pick up the coverage system fast enough to make an impact on defense, and wasn't happy with his playing time.

Harry was a walk-on who came here to be groomed to take over for Sam Paulescu. When the Beavers signed Roseburg's Kyle Loomis, Harry's long-term prospects didnÂ’t look good.

The only punters working out with the team this spring is walk-on Jon Strowbridge, a Corvallis High alum, and place-kicker Alexis Serna. Serna has been working on punting for emergency.

In scheduling news, the OSU-Wisconsin dates have been set. The Beavers play there on Sept. 10, 2011. The Badgers come to Corvallis on Aug. 31, 2013.

Also, it looks like last week they got an early scoop on the new Defensive Line coach. Apparently, it's going to be Joe Seumalo. He coached at San Jose State last season and before than he was the D-Line coach at Cal-Poly.

What's more interesting is that he has a Hawaii connection. Joe played at Hawaii from '85 to '88 and coached at the High School, College (GA) and Pro (indoor league) level in Hawaii. Looks like were really trying to mine that Hawaii connection.

Check out the details here: New defensive line coach?

Cal-Poly Bio

Maybe it's official according to the Advertiser (scroll to bottom)
Honolulu Advertiser - SEUMALO ON OSU STAFF

The Trib is reporting the same thing. Welcome Joe!

Weekend review

The Beaver baseball team had a tough time down in Malibu this weekend. The pitching and hitting didn't quite mesh after the first game was called to due to rain. However, I don't think it's a major issue. Pepperdine has 4 more games under their belt. Plus, OSU out-hit the Waves in the first two games by a ton. Just not enough timely hitting and too many walks by the OSU pitchers led to their downfall. They will bounce back.

No. 6 OSU Wins One, Loses One In Baseball

Baseball Drops Third Game of Series at Pepperdine


The hoops team ran into some Huskies who were just on FIRE. Roy could not be stopped and everyone was hitting 3's. Bobby Jones? Jensen? Yea, pretty much 75% of their possisions ended in a score. Hopefully one of the new 6-5 guard/forwards coming in next season can turn out to be like Brandon Roy. We need to simply get more athletic to win consistently in the Pac-10.


Meanwhile, the softball team is going off on offense. They are now in the midst of an 8 game winning streak and look like they are on a mission. With scores like 8-7, 5-0, 6-2, and 15-7 I'd say their offense is clicking.

OSU Students get some seats back, visitors get shaft

I love to read a story like this. Opposing fans getting booted out of the grandstands so that OSU students can get a place back in the grandstands. That should bring some life into the grandstands and keep the games lively. And all it took was a little peaceful protests by the OSU students. Now that's a cause worth fighting for :).

Corvallis Gazette-Times :. OSU students can sit in Goss grandstands

Injury Update on Lamar Hurd, as reported by Lamar Hurd

Looks like Lamar is moonlighting as a journalist while recovering from his tendon tear. First Andy Darkins, now Lamar Hurd. Who's gonna step up from the baseball team?

Oregon State Daily Barometer Online - Injury opens new doors

So, anyway, I just had my third MRI on Valentine’s Day before spending the remainder of the day with the love of my life (I love you Danielle), and hopefully the results will show that my once-torn tendon is completely re-attached. If that’s the case, it will then be up to me to strengthen the area enough to be able to play again. How long that will take ... who knows? But I’ll keep you posted.

Get better Lamar! We all want to see you play one last time against the Ducks! And win!

Nice win Beavs

Good hard fought win for the Beavs tonight. Generally, the Beavs played good tough defense and on offense they took what Wazzu was giving them.

Sasa Cuic looked strong again. He's hitting his 3's, but the most impressive part of his game is how he's stepped it up inside. He is the guy on the team that presents some serious matchup problems for the other team. That's good to finally have. Next year he could be very good as the go to guy (crosses fingers).

Jeffers, Jones, and DeWitz all had strong games I felt. Man, Casey has a ton of poise. He does a nice job of looking inside to guys posting up and tries to get the ball to the guys where they can do something with it. Also, I think Jeffers could have a break-out season next year. He's got some really good, strong moves inside but just needs to finish with a little more touch inside. He could have a great year next year if he seriously works on his shooting.

Well, on to the Dogs and maybe a bright spot to the end of the season.

Baseball gets another test on the road at #14 Pepperdine

More baseball on the radio this weekend. The Beavers will get a good early season test by playing at Pepperdine in LA. Pepperdine is generally very good. And yes, it will be broadcast on the radio again (sweet!).

No. 6 OSU Visits No. 14 Pepperdine For Baseball Series

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17

No. 6 Oregon State at No. 14 Pepperdine; 2 p.m.

(Radio live on KUIK-AM 1360 in Portland area; live audio and live statistics on www.osubeavers.com)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18

No. 6 Oregon State at No. 14 Pepperdine; 1 p.m.

(Radio live on KUIK-AM 1360 in Portland area; live audio and live statistics on www.osubeavers.com)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19

No. 6 Oregon State at No. 14 Pepperdine; 1 p.m.

(Radio live on KUIK-AM 1360 in Portland area; live audio and live statistics on www.osubeavers.com)

WSU gets Derrick Low back for Oregon State game

OSU will need to bring it's 'A' game on Thursday because the Cougs are getting a major boost with Derrick Low coming back. He was great as a freshman last season and I'm sure it will give WSU an emotional boost. Hopefully the Beavs will be ready to win.

Corvallis Gazette-Times -

The sophomore point guard broke his right foot in practice on Jan. 3, and missed eight games. He came off the bench to play eight minutes in a loss to No. 15 UCLA, and then started in a win over Southern California.

Low scored five points, had three assists and two rebounds in 28 minutes against the Trojans. His presence for an extended time was more important than the numbers he put up.

“Now that he’s back, I’m sure there’s a level of energy that is back,” OSU coach Jay John said. “It’s a great lift, no question about it. He’s a talented player.”

I'm glad to see that Jason Fontenet is back

Nice job Jason. Way to suck it up and not give up on your senior season and the team. I'm hoping Jason can provide the leadership that Wes Washington was saying the team needed. If we could get a mini winning streak going it would sure help up come tournament time and going into next season.

The Oregonian - Fontenet's return energizes Beavers

"I want to finish the year strong," Fontenet said. "I'm not known as a quitter. Whatever happens, if I don't play or if I do, I'm going to come out and work hard in practice to get the other guys ready.

{...}

"Energy is an extremely attractive quality, because energy is contagious," John said. "So if people are bringing energy, then there's a decent chance that someone else will jump in with that. It was a good thing to see from Jason."

Some good articles out of Hawaii about the OSU game

Looks like the game is being viewed almost as a rivalry game in Hawaii. There's a lot of subplots to this Hawaii game. Coach Cavanaugh leaving UH for OSU last year. The Jeremy Perry saga. OSU recruiting so heavily in Hawaii. June Jones being from Portland.

These two articles pretty much cover it all:

Warriors will host Oregon St. in football - The Honolulu Advertiser

Oregon State and UH have been intense recruiting competitors in the past three years The rivalry boiled in 2004, when the state's top high school offensive lineman, Jeremy Perry of Kahuku High, signed with UH but did not submit his letter of intent. Instead, he ended up committing to OSU.

What's more, Mike Cavanaugh, who coached the offensive line during Jones' first six years as UH head coach, is now the Beavers' line coach.

UH to play Oregon State this fall - Honolulu Star-Bulletin.com

Warriors assistant Mike Cavanaugh -- a highly-regarded offensive line coach -- left Manoa after six seasons last year to join the Beavers staff. Cavanaugh and two other former UH coaches, Mark Banker and Greg Newhouse, helped a recruiting effort that netted six signed letters-of-intent from the islands two weeks ago.

The prospects join four others from Hawaii on the veteran roster, including sophomore center Jeremy Perry from Kahuku. UH and Oregon State were engaged in an intense competition to land Perry.

{...}

Jones is from Portland, Ore., about an hour's drive from Corvallis. The game at Oregon State will be the first time he coaches a college game in his home state.

Article on Mike Hass out of Tallahassee

Stumbled across this article from Florida about Mike Hass, Fred Biletnikoff, and the official awards show that just happened in Florida:

Tallahassee Democrat - A Biletnikoff kind of guy

''I've been with the Raiders for a hundred years, and we love the underdog,'' said Biletnikoff, an NFL Hall of Famer who now serves as Oakland's wide-receivers coach. ''Mike is a guy who proved that a kid doesn't have to have a scholarship . . . What he's accomplished is unbelievable.''

Oregon State to play in Hawai'i this season

Looks like the speculation has come true, the Beavs are going to Hawaii! The trip should be great for recruiting and a cool way for the players on the team from the islands to have their family watch them play.

The game will be on Dec. 2nd, 2006. Plenty of time to plan a little vacation, eh?

University of Hawai'i - Oregon State Added to 2006 Warrior Football Schedule

The all-time series between Hawai`i and Oregon State is tied at 3-3. The last time the teams met was on Dec. 25, 1999, when Hawai`i defeated the Beavers, 23-17, in the Jeep Oahu Bowl at Aloha Stadium.

OSUBeavers.com - Football Adds 2006 Game at Hawaii

“We think it’s great that we’re adding this game against Hawaii,” OSU Coach Mike Riley said. “It’ll be a real treat to bring all of our Hawaiian players home for a game. It’s an important recruiting area for us, so it’s great to go and play a game there and let everyone in Hawaii see our football team in person.”

Weekend roundup

Anyone else feel like spring is here? It was sunny all weekend and baseball was on the radio. That felt good after 60 consective days of rain (or so). The baseball team played well too. They almost completed the comeback on Sunday to sweep the weekend, but Gundy wasn't in mid-season form and lost the lead. I still like the way they played over the weekend and the way they battled.

In case you missed it, there was a nice article in the Sunday Oregonian about Jacoby Ellsbury and his journey through the Red Sox organization.

Ellsbury looks for future in ghosts of Fenway past


The men's hoops team continues to struggle. I sure hope Cuic stays around for one more season. He's been the best player on the team this year in the Pac-10 season. He would provide a ton of stability to a young team next year and might get a shot at the NBA if he can continue to improve the way he has.

Maybe the team will finish strong with one more upset against UW. That would help get the bad taste out of everyone's mouth from this season.


The women's sports had a good weekend as the softball team rebounded nicely from 2 opening day losses to win the next 3. Also, the women's basketball team is improving nicely as they had a weekend split.


Go Beavs!

OSU Beavers Baseball opener on the radio

Right now (2pm Friday) the OSU Beavers baseball team is playing Nevada in an Arizona tournament. You can listen on KUIK 1360 AM in Portland and on the internet at OSUBeavers.com.

You will need a subscription to listen on the internet, but it's only $5 a month for audio or $80/year for all audio and video offered by OSUBeavers.com.

Check it out!

New Beaver Beat Writer Blog

FYI, there's a new entry to the Beaver blogging world. The Corvallis Gazette-Times beat writer Cliff Kirkpatrick has gotten into the act.

Check it out:

Cliff Kirkpatrick's Beaver Blog

OSU will be seeing a lot of Dennis Erickson

The big news in Beaver Nation is that former Beavers coach Dennis Erickson has been hired at the University of Idaho. Why is this big news? Because we are playing Idaho for the next three seasons. If Dennis lasts that long we may have another NW rival to worry about. However, I wonder if the power in Idaho will now shift from BSU to UI? Hmm...

Congrats to Dennis!

Sports - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho

Vandal Nation got a six-espresso jolt Wednesday when the University of Idaho introduced Dennis Erickson as its new head football coach.

{...}

"Well," Erickson replied, "I'll take you to the next level."

That certainly is the hope of Vandal Nation. They closed Wednesday's news conference in the school's new weight room with a rendition of the Idaho fight song.

Baseball starts on Friday - The season preview roundup

The Oregon State baseball team's most anticipated season ever is about to get underway in Arizona tomorrow. Friday's game will be broadcast in Portland on KUIK 1360.

Man, I hope the Beavers can come close to living up to expectations. We Beaver fans have had some tough seasons this year. It all falls on the shoulders of the baseball / softball teams to finish the year strong and make us feel good about the Beavers again.


Video of Pat Casey previewing the season!


Corvallis Gazette-Times - Beavers looking for repeat

The Oregonian - Diamond draw
The Oregonian - On the diamond

Statesman Journal - Beavers strive for encore performance

The Barometer - Baseball season opens in Arizona

But the Beavers’ lineup returns senior second baseman Ryan Gipson (.330 batting average, 1 homer, 22 runs batted in, 9 stolen bases), senior third baseman Shea McFeely (.319, 5, 41), junior outfielder Tyler Graham (.307, 0, 24, 21 stolen bases), junior outfielder Mike Lissman (.284, 1, 30), sophomore shortstop Darwin Barney (.301, 2, 44) and sophomore catcher Mitch Canham (.325, 8, 39).

Barney was the Pac-10’s Freshman of the Year in 2005 and earned Freshman All-America honors, while Gipson, McFeely and Graham earned all-conference honorable mention.

Canham now has a year of experience behind the plate after starting his OSU career at first base. He’s joined by sophomores Casey Priseman (.241, 0, 3) and Erik Ammon (.255, 0, 16 at Hawai’i).

Depending on the situation, first base could go to junior Cole Gillespie (.319, 0, 18), senior Bill Rowe (.235, 3, 39 at California-Santa Barbara) or Canham. McFeely could move across the diamond at times to get sophomore Lonnie Lechelt (.125, 2, 5) in the lineup.

The Beavers are solid up the middle with Barney at shortstop and Gipson or senior Chris Kunda (.242, 1, 10), an outstanding defensive player, at second base. Gipson took over the starting role early in 2005 and went on to lead the Pac-10 in on-base percentage.

Lechelt and freshman Brett Casey (.667 in an injury-shortened season at Crescent Valley HS) could back up second, short or third.

In the outfield, Graham will move from left to center and likely inherit the leadoff spot in the batting order, as well. Candidates to flank him include Lissman, Gillespie, senior Geoff Wagner (.220, 1, 6), junior Scott Santschi (.391, 1, 37 at CC of Spokane), and freshmen Koa Kahalohoe (.553 at Durango HS) and John Wallace (.390, 5 homers at Reno HS).

Looks like we have some really good newcomers this season. I predict that at least 2-3 guys who weren't on the team last season will make a big impact this season.

Nice football recruiting spotlight from the Trib

The Portland Tribune had a good article spotlighting three of the new Beavers football recruits: James Dockery, Gabe Miller, and Gerard Lee.

3 recruits nurture OSU’s hopes | PortlandTribune.com

“I liked the campus atmosphere in Corvallis and the coaches,” he says. “Every coach is going to be nice to you during the recruiting process, but there was something about (the OSU coaches) that was different. No matter what coach I work with up there, I feel I can get along with. I like coach (Mike) Riley’s style — quiet and reserved. He’s an uptempo coach and a cool guy, somebody I can trust.”
Dockery says he feels more natural at receiver, “because that’s where my heart is, but I have a knack for making interceptions. I really don’t care where I play. Wherever I can be of the most help.”

{...}

“The opportunity to play (at Oregon State) was a little better,” he says. “The offense fits me well. And I’ve gotten close to the coaches down there. They offered me during the spring game last year, so we’ve developed a relationship.”
It didn’t hurt that for the first time in his five years as a head coach, Riley pulled his entire staff off the road and brought them to Miller for a home visit two weeks before signing day.
“I knew coach (Nigel) Burton was coming, but then they all showed up at my door — very unexpected, and pretty cool,” Miller says.

{...}

Lee, 21, signed with Oklahoma out of high school in New Orleans but didn’t qualify academically. After a short stay at Grambling — he didn’t play — he returned to New Orleans and spent most of two years working out and working with his father, a carpenter. After two years away from football, he played last fall at Scottsdale Community College, where he registered 73 tackles and 8.5 sacks in nine games and was named all-conference.

Jason Fontenet MIA

I'm hoping that Jason and Jay work out whatever is going on. I like Fontenet and I was fairly surprised that he didn't play against Stanford on Saturday. I like Brett Casey and Wes Washington has showed promise, but Jason is a Senior and has a whole lot more experience than those guys. He seems like a leader and has confidence as well. I think he would help the team more than Brett Casey would at this point.

Of course, if coach John is already taking a look at the future then maybe playing Wes and Brett is OK. But we needed that win against Stanford. I'm not sure he put the best players on the floor. I'm not privy to all that goes on, so there may be a reason that the fans don't know about.

Here's the story:

Corvallis Gazette-Times - Fontenet not with Beavers

Bummer. Men's hoops drops two more home games.

Well, I'm not sure anyone would have guessed that our road record would be better than our home record this season. I suppose that's not difficult when you've only won 1 home game. In a guard oriented league, we don't have a player who can take the game into their hands and not let the Beavs lose.

Cuic is looking good. I hope he stays here through his entire career. I think he has a shot at the NBA if he improves each season as much as he has from last season to this season. Also, Wesley Washington could be a special player for the Beavs before his time is done. He is so active all the time and is a huge lift on defense.

Now is the time to start seeing signs for next season. What underclassmen will contribute and enable the team to have a winning record next season? We'll find out over these next few weeks. And if things gel late, who knows, maybe the Beavs will make a run in the Pac-10 tournament. They certainly have the talent to do it.

Big weekend for the Beavers basketball team

Well, it starts tonight. Either the Beavers will give Beaver nation hope or they will force them to start looking towards the baseball season. The men's basketball team MUST win one game this weekend. Two would be a huge shot in the arm. A record of 5-6 is a whole lot better than 3-6. And 3-8 is probably the beginning of the end of all hope for a winning record. It's going to be tough, but they must find a way to win.

Go Beavs!

Behind the Beavers Beat - Worth a read the day after LOI day

Yea, we've read the stories in the newspaper today and maybe that didn't leave you completely satisfied. Well, check out the "Behind the Beavers Beat" blog by the Oregonian beat writers Jim Beseda and Paul Buker. They've got some more info that didn't get printed and it's a good read.

OregonLive.com: Behind The Beavers Beat

Whew! It's over. Or...has it just started?

The 2006 college football season has offically started! The Beavers have recieved 30 commitments from high school and junior college players and now generally know what team they will have going into 2006.

First, we pretty much kept everyone who committed early. We did lose Alex Fa'agai and Alfred Rowe, but from what I understand they were still thinking. We did get one surprise in Danzel Issac and a few of the soft verbals we were concerned about came through and stuck with their commitments. The only guy I wish we would have nabbed is Straiten, the burner WR out of SFCC. We'll be OK at WR though. We got a few in this class and have some good ones already in the program.

Here's the list:

Offical Commit List

Keo Camat        LB   Portland, OR
Brady Camp       TE   Gresham, OR
Howard Croom     TE   Long Beach, CA
James Dockery    DB   Palm Desert, CA
Coye Francies    DB   Sacramento, CA
Geoff Garner     OL   Mesa, AZ
Joe Halahuni     TE   Orting, WA
Tom Hansen       LB   Sacramento, CA
Mitchel Hunt     DT   Tempe, AZ
Danzel Issac     LB   Thatcher, AZ
Casey Kjos       ATH  Middletown, OH
Kaulin Krebs     QB   Kahuku, HI
Keaton Kristick  LB   Phoenix, AZ
Joey La Rocque   LB   Valencia, CA
Gerard Lee       DT   Scottsdale, AZ
Alex Linnenkohl  OL   Olympia, WA
Mana Lolotai     LB   Honolulu, HI
Kyle Loomis      K    Roseburg, OR
Gabe Miller      LB   Lake Oswego, OR
Mau Nomani       OL   Tigard, OR
Timi Oshinowo    OL   Naperville, IL
Ryan Pohl        OL   Honolulu, HI
Clinton Polk     RB   Scottsdale, AZ
John Reese       TE   Upland, CA
Dwight Roberson  LB   Ventura, CA
Keith Robertson  DE   Los Altos Hills, CA
Dorian Smith     DE   Palm Desert, CA
Suaesi Tuimaunei DB   Kahuku, HI
Devin Unga       ATH  Kahuku, HI
Kevin Unga       LB   Kahuku, HI



The Register-Guard already has an article about the OSU Beavers class up online:
Decision day for UO, OSU: Beavers: Oregon State makes a strong push for defensive players