Oregon State will play nine of 12 nonconference games at Gill Coliseum

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

Jay John doesn’t leave much to chance.

The Oregon State men’s basketball coach knew long ago he would depend on many young athletes this season. Learning on the run is the theme of the nonconference portion of the schedule.

That’s why John made sure nine of those 12 games are in the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum. He wants to ease his inexperienced players — mainly in the backcourt — into the season before Pacific-10 Conference games begin.

“This year in terms of getting experience, the schedule is set up to do that at home,” John said. “There’s some talent, but we have to work our way through some inexperience. But this is a collection of guys I feel good about to learn and not make the same mistake. I don’t know how it will play out early on. It’s a team that’s going to grow in stages, so we’ll nurture them with a predominately home schedule.”

It’s a different philosophy from a year ago. With four returning seniors with starting experience and historical problems playing on the road, John took his team away from Corvallis for seven of the 11 nonconference games.

The goal was to toughen them up for the hostile environs of the Pac-10. There were mixed results early, going 7-4 in that stretch. And then injuries brought them down during the conference games, anyway.

“Our schedule is very friendly; we have a good schedule,” junior forward Marcel Jones said. “That’s going to be good for our young guys. I think starting off everyone has a better attitude.”

Only five of this season’s opponents are coming off winning seasons, and many of them are still in rebuilding projects. One is even an NCAA Division II team: Western Oregon.

The toughest test will be Louisiana State, a Final Four team a year ago, when the Tigers visit Corvallis on Dec. 17. Fresno State on Dec. 2 at home and a game Nov. 19 at Hawaii are other stern challenges.

The combined record of the opponents is 183-201, and 156-192 if you take out LSU.

So even though the nucleus changed, there’s still lofty, but cautious, expectations for a team depending on so many youngsters.

“For us to say we are going to the (NCAA) Tournament and say what people want to hear, it’s not smart for us,” forward Sasa Cuic said. “With having all these young players, we don’t want them to burn out. We want to set realistic goals game-to-game. We have to mature the team first.”

At least scheduling the last two seasons is an experiment to see what’s better for the program at this stage: a tough schedule to prepare for the conference or go easy early to gain confidence.

“I definitely think we can finish in the top half of the Pac-10, especially as we gain confidence early in the season because we have the schedule to do so,” senior center Kyle Jeffers said. “That’s what a lot of the young guys need, is just win and continue to play as a team as we grow. As we move through the season, I’m expecting us to finish in the top half of the Pac-10. We have the schedule to win 20-plus games.”

Another added bonus with the schedule John was looking for is getting the fans excited. Everyone loves a winner, and he hopes people notice there’s basketball going on in the fall, and don’t wait until the Pac-10 season to get in the mood.