Ben Voogd expects a huge cheering section for him in Gill Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

The sophomore backup point guard for the Louisiana State men’s basketball team says a large contingent of family and friends from Florence will be in the stands for his homecoming.

Voogd plays his first college game in his home state when the No. 12-ranked Tigers face Oregon State in a nonconference contest. The game is also an opportunity to see one of last season’s Final Four teams in Corvallis.

The Beavers picked up the marquee game because LSU wanted to schedule an opportunity for Voogd to have a game close to his hometown.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Voogd said. “I’ve had some of my family out to the Final Four, and Las Vegas when we played there last year. Now I’ll be able to see a bunch more family and friends, which will be nice.”

Voogd is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound point guard out of Siuslaw High, who was a four-time all-league and three-time all-state selection. He found his way to Baton Rouge, La., by way of his AAU team, the Eugene Rebels.

It was the same team Crescent Valley’s Brett Casey played on. Casey played point guard for OSU last season, but has since quit to concentrate on baseball.

“I thought they were similar guys,” OSU coach Jay John said. “With Brett, he was coming to walk on and play both sports. (Voogd) got a scholarship, and that was what he was looking for.”

The two were in a tournament in Las Vegas when the LSU coaches spotted Voogd, while looking at someone else. He created shots with ease, so they needed to take another look at this guy from a 3A school on the Oregon coast.

After looking up some background on Voogd, LSU coaches went to a Los Angeles tournament just for him. They saw another strong performance, and brought him in for a recruiting visit.

It was Voogd first trip to see colleges and his last before committing.

“I was a little surprised at first,” Voogd said of the interest. “I didn’t know what they were like. I didn’t even know where LSU was, just that it’s in Louisiana. I saw they are a good team and my goal was to play with the best, and I was able to do that.”

Going from a small town in Oregon to a big city in the South was a culture-shock, but Voogd welcomed the change. The food was a good, but different, so he showed his parents how to cook Cajun style for when he came home.

“The first month I got here was in the summer,” Voogd said. “I showered four, five times a day. I’d walk to class and be all sweaty, but I adjusted. And the food is crazy. It’s spicy, but I love it.”

The game was different, too. He scored 26 points a game as a junior at Siuslaw, leading a young team. He developed into a true point guard his senior season, averaging 18 points, 8.5 assists and 7.3 rebounds.

It took some time to adapt to LSU’s faster pace and more intricate plays. The overall production was over the top compared to where he came from. He has four coaches, seven managers, multiple trainers and a dietician.

“I was blown away by being over here,” Voogd said. “The crowds are so big, especially coming from a small school from Florence. All around it was a big deal. The speed was quicker and everyone is bigger. Coming from Florence I had to do the majority of the work. Now I can just give the ball to really good players, and they take care of it.”

Voogd appeared in all 36 games last season, starting one. He averaged 12.3 minutes, 1.1 points, 1.8 assists and 0.8 rebounds. He’s played in all seven games this season with improved numbers, averaging 10.7 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists.

A turning point for Voogd at LSU was the aftermath of one of the nation’s greatest tragedies. After a little more than a month on campus, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, 90 minutes away by car.

Living in that area at the time helped him bond with the community.

The Tigers were about to begin playing on the newly installed gym floor, when it became an emergency shelter. From that point on the season was anything but normal.

“It has a big effect on us,” Voogd said. “It changed our workout schedule and a lot of the guys helped out the people who stayed in our gym. I helped pass out food there. It was a crazy time. And not having family there, or not knowing anyone except for the guys on the team in that period, was difficult. That experience changed us and made us more of a team.”

LSU’s run to the Final Four entertained the people of the region, which made Voogd proud to be part of the team. The Tigers returned nine players from that squad and hope to build on that performance.

“We were a young team, and now we are more mature this year,” Voogd said. “Our goal is to win a national championship, and we can as long as we keep working. The sky is the limit for us. And for me, I’ll do what the coaches want me to do to help the team get there.”

BASKETBALL

SUNDAY: (12) Louisiana State at Oregon State, 5 p.m.

Records: Louisiana State 5-2, 0-0 Southeastern Conference; Oregon State 6-4, 0-0 Pacific-10 Conference

TV: FSN (34)

n NEXT: Mercer at Oregon State, 9 p.m. Thursday