First season 1901–02 Nickname Beavers Colors Orange and Black Arena/Stadium Gill Coliseum Division Division I (NCAA) | All-time record 1,711–1,318 (.565) Student section Beaver Dam Head coach Wayne Tinkle Conference Pacific-12 Conference | |
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University Oregon State University Location Corvallis, Oregon, United States | ||
The Oregon State Beavers men's basketball program, established in 1901, is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of the Oregon State University Beavers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Pac-12 Conference. The team plays home games in Gill Coliseum. They are currently coached by Wayne Tinkle. Oregon State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 17 times (though three appearances were later vacated by the NCAA), advancing to the Final Four twice (1949 and 1963). Their most recent appearance was in 2016 where they lost in the First Round to VCU.
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1980–83 – Orange Express
The 1980–81 Oregon State men's basketball season was arguably one of the best and ironically most upsetting basketball seasons in Oregon State history. The team was referred to as the Orange Express and was led by Beaver legendary coach Ralph Miller. The Orange Express season was led by Beaver great, Steve Johnson, in his last year at OSU. This season would be the first time in OSU history that the Beavers would win at UCLA. The Orange Express spent a school record eight weeks ranked #1 in at least one of the AP and Coaches Polls while finishing with a 26–2 record. At 26–1 the team would go into the NCAA tournament as a #1 seed and were upset by #8 seed Kansas State 50–48 in the First round. Miller was awarded UPI and AP Coach of the Year honors and Steve Johnson would receive All-American honors.
From 1980–81 season through the 1982–83 season, OSU held a 77–11 record which at the time was only bested by DePaul's 79–6 record. This record included a 35–1 record at Gill Coliseum including a school best 24 consecutive home wins.
However, NCAA sanctions followed these standout teams. The NCAA found that many players, from 1979–1983 were involved in improper arrangements with outside representative related to the purchase of complimentary basketball tickets and the receipt of other prohibited benefits. The NCAA vacated appearances from the 1980, 1981, and 1982 tournaments.
Coaches
The Oregon State men's basketball team has had 21 head coaches and one interim head coach. Both Amory T. "Slats" Gill and Ralph Miller are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Craig Robinson, the coach preceding Wayne Tinkle, was hired by OSU in 2008 out of Brown University, where Robinson had just coached the Bears to a school-record 19 wins. Robinson is the brother of United States first lady Michelle Obama, and the brother-in-law to United States President Barack Obama. The longest-tenured head coach was Slats Gill, who was the coach for 36 seasons, winning 599 games during his time at OSU. The current coach, Wayne Tinkle, was hired by OSU in 2014 from the University of Montana – Missoula, where he coached the Montana Grizzlies to two Big Sky Conference championships and a school-record 25 wins.
NCAA tournament results
The Beavers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 17 times. Their combined record is 12–20. OSU had three NCAA Tournament appearances (1980, 1981 and 1982) vacated by the NCAA, resulting in 14 recognized appearances and an adjusted official NCAA Tournament record of 10–17. As of 2017, the last official tournament win in 1975 makes it the longest drought between NCAA Tournament wins (42 years) of the major seven conferences that have won games.
*Appearances and wins and losses from 1980, 1981, and 1982 were later vacated by the NCAA.
The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.
*Appearances and wins and losses from 1980, 1981, and 1982 were later vacated by the NCAA.
NIT results
The Beavers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) four times. Their combined record is 3–4.
CBI results
The Beavers have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) four times. Their combined record is 7–4. They were CBI Champions in 2009.
All-time record vs. Pac-12 opponents
The Oregon State Beavers have the following series records vs. Pac-12 opponents.
Rivalries
Oregon Ducks — The Civil War is Oregon State's main rivalry.
Washington Huskies — The Dog Fight is one of Oregon State's lesser known rivalry games.
Washington State Cougars — The Cougars and Beavers are longtime Pac-12 (and regional) rivals.
Arizona Wildcats - The Cat's Meow was coined during the Ralph Miller era when the Beavers would match-up against famed-coach Lute Olson's squad.
Notable players
Oregon State has had 75 all-conference and 32 All-America selections, five Pac-10 Players of the Year, 42 players selected in the NBA Draft, and 24 players that have gone on to play in the NBA. Additionally, OSU basketball alumni have 4 gold medals at the Olympics, including one by Lew Beck, who never played in the NBA. A total of 7 players have won 11 NBA titles, including three by A. C. Green, two by Brent Barry, two by Mel Counts, and one each by Red Rocha, Dave Gambee, Lonnie Shelton, and Gary Payton.
NBA players
The players who have gone on to play in the NBA are:
Retired numbers
Oregon State has retired the jersey numbers of five players:
NCAA records
The individual and team NCAA records below are current as of the end of the 2015–16 season.
Individual Records
Team Records