Canzano’s 25 Most Influential People in Oregon Sports 2020

Each summer our own John Canzano puts together a list of the most influential folks in Oregon sports for The Oregonian.

Canzano’s 2020 list saw six newcomers. The six who dropped off the 2020 list from 2019 were: the Reser Family (2019 – 4th), Justin Herbert (15), Jerry Schumacher (16), Scott Leykam (18), KL Wombacher (23), Craig Cheek (24).

Many of the new names, including new No. 1 Gov. Kate Brown, joined the list due to their effect on Oregon sports due to COVID-19.

The other newbies were No. 23 Peter Weber (the OSAA Executive Director), No. 15 Chris McGowan (CEO of Vulcan Sports & Entertainment, Blazers President/CEO), No. 7 F. King Alexander (new Oregon State University President), No. 5 Michael Schill (Oregon President/Chair of Pac-12 CEO Group), No. 2 Dr. Doug Aukerman (high-ranking Oregon State athletic department physician).

You can check out Canzano’s full breakdown and description for each person here.

No. 25 – OSU Men’s Basketball coach, Wayne Tinkle (2019 – No. 25)

No. 24 – Portland State AD, Valerie Cleary (No. 17)

No. 23 – OSAA Executive Director, Peter Weber (Not Ranked)

No. 22 – Former Duck, WNBA No. 1 Pick, Sabrina Ionescu (No. 10)

No. 21 – OSU Women’s Basketball coach, Scott Rueck (No. 13)

No. 20 – Oregon Men’s Basketball coach, Dana Altman (No. 20)

No. 19 – Trail Blazers coach, Terry Stotts (No. 19)

No. 18 – Founder of #SetTheExpectation Campaign, Brenda Tracy (No. 11)

No. 17 – Blazers President of Basketball Ops, Neil Olshey (No. 14)

No. 16 – Timbers President of Business, Mike Golub (No. 22)

No. 15 – CEO of Vulcan Sports/Entertainment & Blazers Pres./CEO, Chris McGowan (NR)

No. 14 – Oregon Women’s Basketball coach, Kelly Graves (No. 12)

No. 13 – CEO of Sport Oregon, Jim Etzel (No. 21)

No. 12 – Timbers & Thorns Owner, Merritt Paulson (No. 3)

No. 11 – OSU AD, Scott Barnes (No. 7)

No. 10 – Oregon AD, Rob Mullens (No. 6)

No. 9 – OSU Football coach, Jonathan Smith (No. 8)

No. 8 – Oregon Football coach, Mario Cristobal (No. 5)

No. 7 – New Oregon State University President, F. King Alexander (NR)

No. 6 – Trail Blazers Owner, Jody Allen (No. 1)

No. 5 – Oregon President/Pac-12 CEO Group Chair, Michael Schill (NR)

No. 4 – Nike Founder, Phil Knight (No. 2)

No. 3 – Blazers Guard, Damian Lillard (No. 9)

No. 2 – Oregon State athletic department physician, Dr. Doug Aukerman (NR)

No. 1 – Oregon Governor, Kate Brown (NR)

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