OSU Men's Basketball season wrap-up stories

Here's a couple of local articles on the recent Men's Hoops season. The Oregonian one is a very good read.

The Oregonian - Beavers still on the outside looking in

"Going to the NCAA Tournament is by all means the ultimate," Beavers coach Jay John said. "That's the next step for this program, without any question. The step after that is doing it two years in a row. And after that, it's being a regular participant and not a fly-by-night.

[...]

He had little success attracting local talent his first two seasons but has done better recently, first landing Jesuit's Josh Tarver as part of his 2004-05 recruiting class and getting commitments for next season from Jesuit's Seth Tarver and Jefferson's Lathen Wallace, two of the top high school seniors in Oregon.

"Those three kids coming in, maybe they could be the guys who help turn the corner for us and get the program back to where it used to be," said Charlie Sitton, who chose Oregon State as one of the nation's top recruits out of McMinnville in 1980.

[...]

Josh Tarver, a redshirt and next season's projected starting point guard, said the Beavers' NCAA Tournament drought was a nonfactor in his decision to play for Oregon State.

"That didn't bother me at all," said Tarver, who also has a brother on the OSU football team. "I knew the type of players that we had coming in and that we could change things around. It just inspired me that much more to bring Oregon State back to what it was.

"I like the program. I get to stay home and . . . that was probably the main reason I chose to come here."

[...]

Athletic director Bob De Carolis said the Beavers have spent between $1 million and $1.5 million in renovations inside Gill Coliseum, including a remodeled locker room for men's basketball before next season.

De Carolis also hopes to raise $30 million to $35 million the next five years to go toward a new medical-treatment facility, an academic center, a 2,500-seat annex to house wrestling and volleyball, and a complete exterior makeover of Gill, including new windows, doors and paint.

[...]

"Any time you come into a program that's down, you're going to face obstacles," said Lute Olson, the Arizona coach and John's former boss. "And the only way you beat those obstacles is by working as hard as Jay and his staff do.

"The one advantage he has is that Oregon turns out some good high school basketball players. I think they'll overcome (their recent past). You can't expect it to happen right away."

Statesman Journal - Injuries tell the tale of Beavers' 2005-06 season

While a 13-18 overall record and a tie for eighth place in the Pac-10 is a step back from last year's 17-15 campaign, which included a fifth-place conference finish and the school's first postseason appearance (National Invitation Tournament) since the 1989-90 season, John remains optimistic.

"We took a program that had no life when I got here, and brought it to a point where it has a winning record (last season), finished fifth in the conference and a whole series of things that hadn't been done in years," said John, who completed his fourth season.

"There isn't anyone who can convince me that if we don't endure the injuries that we did, that we would have had another winning season and been in some position to contend for postseason play."

John said the program has not developed enough depth to offset a key injury, much less the loss of three starters.

[...]

"I feel very good about it," Cuic said of OSU's future. "The guys we have coming in are fresh, they're energetic, they want to prove themselves, and in the right system, they're going to flourish."

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"I feel it's better than when we came," said Hurd, a Houston native who was John's first recruit. "You look at the circumstances (this season), there's a lot of things that had nothing to do with the coaches. Next year when people see the new team here and guys are healthy, then you'll see the product."

Fox Sports - Oregon State Strategy and Personnel (Season in Review)

THE GOOD NEWS: Sophomore Sasa Cuic, a 6-10 forward from Croatia, confirmed several weeks ago he will return to school next year rather than sign with a European club. Sophomore forward Marcel Jones also showed excellent growth during the season, and junior center Kyle Jeffers played his best game of the season in the Pac-10 tournament win over Arizona State.