Cuic, Washington, Tsagarakis top losses; John says next year’s team will be far more athletic with Giles, new signees

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Gazette-Times Reporter

It was spring cleaning time for the Oregon State men’s basketball program Tuesday as coach Jay John revealed who will not come back next season.

The five players who are gone — for various reasons — are juniors Sasa Cuic, Wesley Washington, Liam Hughes, Angelo Tsagarakis and freshman Vojin Svilar.

OSU needed to trim at least three players to stay within the NCAA limit of 13 scholarships for next season. They have four recruits, including guard Mike Stovall, who is expected to sign today.

Kyle Jeffers was the lone senior on scholarship, so three other players had to go.

C.J. Giles goes on scholarship in December, when he becomes eligible under NCAA rules. He is a transfer from Kansas, and is a walk-on until then.

The fifth opening allows John to add another player for the coming season, which he is trying to do.

“My job is to build a program with stability and a foundation,” John said. “That was not here when I arrived. … And that’s what we are in the process of doing. We are in the midst of the transition. What we are doing is the right thing for Oregon State basketball in the long haul.”

All of the departures were amicable, John said. Only Washington couldn’t return due to academic problems.

Cuic said he would think about leaving after the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament in March, even after saying numerous times he would be back for his senior season. He wasn’t happy with his situation and had a tough season on and off the court.

His plan, as stated in an OSU press release, is to declare for the NBA draft and see where that goes. If nothing happens there, the Croatian is open to playing in Europe.

“I feel the time is right for me to start my professional career,” Cuic said in the release. “I’m 23 years old. I’m in a good position to leave here as a better player.

“I’ve talked to the coaches a lot about it and I just feel it’s time to move on. I’m very grateful to the coaching staff for the opportunity they gave me.”

Hughes and Tsagarakis redshirted a season and are graduating after four years this spring. They saw limited playing time, and will try to play at an NCAA Division II school next season.

“I’ll be proud to be a Beaver graduate,” Hughes said. “It’s a good university and I enjoyed my time here.

I’ll miss all the people I met here. I would just really like to go somewhere and get more court time in my final year.”

Washington wasn’t academically qualified after the winter term and didn’t enroll for spring term. He had academic troubles when he first came in, and wasn’t happy during the season.

“We had four guys it was in their best interests (to leave),” John said. “One guy not leaving on his terms is Wesley. It’s not like it came out of nowhere. I feel bad for him to end that way, but that’s part of the deal.”

Svilar decided to go home to Serbia. He never appeared comfortable here and averaged only 6.3 minutes in 15 games. John wanted him to return as the backup point guard.

“He was ready to come back, but he knew Josh (Tarver) was the primary guy and he wanted to be his own guy,” John said.

Cuic and Washington are the biggest blows to the team on the stat sheet. They were starters the last two seasons. Cuic scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons; Washington was a strong defender and created offense for others.

The new team will be younger, but more athletic. Inexperience plagued the Beavers this past season, but with Tarver playing more than 1,000 minutes as a freshman, the addition of a standout in Giles and growth from the seven players who return, John expects different results.

He needed to do something to shake up his team, which is coming off two losing seasons. John feels the pressure to win and needed to push the reset button.

“We’ll be faster; not even close,” John said. “Seeing is believing, but when people get the chance to see the team and see the athleticism and energy, we will recapture their hearts. We won’t look so athletically challenged compared to our opponents.

“Oregon State has always been athletically challenged compared to the competition. That’s not going to be the same with this group of guys.”