Wayne Tinkle Says Some Departing Pac-12 Schools Are Already Wanting To Come Back
750 The Game Staff
Oregon State men’s basketball is looking to restore positive momentum following a pair of difficult seasons under head coach Wayne Tinkle.
The Beavers are off to a good start. They are 9-4 overall and started 1-1 in conference play following a split at home last week against UCLA and USC.
Tinkle joined John Canzano on 750 The Game and talked about how impressed he was with his team’s ability to respond after a tough loss to the Bruins only to come back and beat the Trojans.
“The way they bounced back and approached film and practice on Friday, with one of the more talented teams in USC coming in after a loss down south the night before. We jumped ’em,” said Tinkle. “We got off to a great start. We put the petal to the metal and didn’t let up but maybe one or two times in the second half. Says a lot about the growth of this team, the resiliency.”
Oregon State visits Washington State (9-4, 0-2 Pac-12) on Thursday night. The Cougars are double-digit favorites at home. The game tips at 8:00 p.m. on Pac-12 Network. From there, OSU visits the Washington Huskies on Saturday (3:00 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Additionally, it was recently announced the Beavers will play in the West Coast Conference for two seasons starting in 2024-25, and Tinkle told Canzano he likes that development.
“I think either conference would have been strengthened by that,” Tinkle said of the reported possibilities of joining the Mountain West or West Coast Conference. “I like the travel in the West Coast Conference. I think that’s going to be a lot more economical, number-one, and less draining for the teams that are traveling within that conference. And then we’ll see. Everybody knows that it’s a temporary deal.”
As for what’s to come down the road?
“It’s going to be really interesting in a couple years, John, when some of the grant of rights are up in some of the other conferences,” said Tinkle. “And as us and Washington State join hands and try to rebuild to see what direction that goes, a lot of us are talking, we’re already hearing rumblings that those schools that are leaving the Pac-12 aren’t happy and we’ll see if maybe in two years out there aren’t some looking to come back with us.”
Listen to the podcast of the interview with Wayne Tinkle at the link below.
John Canzano delivers the Bald Faced Truth afternoons 3-6 p.m. exclusively in Portland on 750 The Game.
