CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle had a message to his team before the first official practice on Wednesday.
"We've already put in quite a bit of work, but it doesn't stop now. We aren't going to say 'let's have a good day.' Let's make it a great day. If we put a bunch of great days together, it's going to be a great year. One day at a time. Let's make it happen."
With that the 2017-18 season was officially underway.
The Beavers have 16 players on their roster, featuring 10 returning letterwinners and six newcomers. All five starters return -- Stephen Thompson Jr., JaQuori McLaughlin, Kendal Manuel, Drew Eubanks and Gligorije Rakocevic -- as does Tres Tinkie, who missed all but six games last season with an injury.
The newcomers are led by UMASS graduate transfer Seth Berger, MaxPreps First Team All-American Ethan Thompson and Gatorade Oregon Boys Basketball Player of the Year Zach Reichle.
The season officially begins on Friday, Nov. 10 when Oregon State takes on Southern Utah at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers will host Wyoming on Monday, Nov. 13 and Long Beach State on Saturday, Nov. 18 before flying to Orlando to compete in the AdvoCare Invitational.
The Beavers open Pac-12 play with three straight games at Gill Coliseum, beginning with Colorado at 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29 and Utah at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31. The most-contested rivalry in college basketball, featuring Oregon State and Oregon, will resume at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 5.
The schedule includes 16 games on Pac-12 Network, seven on the ESPN family of networks and six on Fox Sports 1. A non-conference road game at Kent State is the lone contest that hasn't been selected yet by a television network.
