Wayne Tinkle Leads Oregon State Resurgence

By Andrew Kahn

After Wayne Tinkle was hired last May, Oregon State alum and former NBA star Brent Barry called his alma mater’s new coach, a man he’d met through a mutual friend. Barry offered his support and wished him luck. “Hope you’re ready to climb a real big mountain,” Barry told him. The ascent has been faster and smoother than anyone could have expected. Tinkle has Oregon State, which lost its entire starting five from a team that went just 16-16 last season, at 14-7 and favored to move to 6-4 in the Pac-12 tonight when it hosts Washington State.

“What he’s been able to do so far has been miraculous,” says Barry, now an NBA analyst for TNT. “If he could muster up 12 to 14 wins it would have been a successful season. He’s already there now.”

Barry committed to the school when the program was at what turned out to be the tail end of an impressive run under Hall of Fame coach Ralph Miller. Barry turned himself into a first-round draft pick in 1995 but didn’t experience much college success. Gary Payton’s senior year in 1990 was not only the last time the Beavers made the Big Dance but the last time they finished above .500 until 2005. They have not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1982. The program has been an afterthought for decades, overshadowed even more so by the national attention directed at the University of Oregon.

Enter the 49-year-old Tinkle, who had come off a successful eight-year run at Montana, where he led the Grizzlies to the NCAA Tournament three times in his final five seasons. Despite losing the starters who ranked first through fifth on the previous year’s team in minutes, points, rebounds, and assists, Tinkle has found a way to be competitive in Year One. He’s done it with defense. According to KenPom.com, the Beavers rank in the top 20 in adjusted defensive efficiency and effective field goal percentage defense, the two most important defensive stats. Gary Payton, Jr. has been a terror as part of Oregon State’s zone defense, ranking second nationally in steal percentage. He had two steals and 10 points in a 58-56 upset over Arizona on Jan. 11.

Oregon State basketball is now in an unfamiliar position where it must handle success. Barry thinks Tinkle might be concerned about the expectations getting out of control due to the early success. “It was hard for us to put any kind of expectation as far as wins and losses because we didn’t know what we had,” says Tinkle of his coaching staff’s pre-season assessment. “To see what they’ve done in such short time has been a great thing. Now that bar’s been raised, we as coaches want to stay patient. We can’t expect to do all these great things [all at once]. There is going to be a step back every once in a while as far as wins and losses but we’re not going to comprise our effort.”

Bringing in a top 20 recruiting class, as Oregon State is poised to do next year, will help. The two highest-rated recruits are Tinkle’s son and assistant coach Stephen Thompson’s son. Then again, there was a time in the recent past when even those with direct ties to the program might not have wanted to come.

“I can’t remember people camping out, chomping at the bit to see games like they are this season,” Barry says. “All the talk around the program has been positive.” The future is bright in Corvallis.

Andrew Kahn is a regular contributor to CBS Local who also writes for Newsday and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.