College Basketball: Under the Radar Impact Recruiting Classes

Oregon State Beavers

Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

• Stephen Thompson (#51 ESPN 100)
• Tres Tinkle (#89 ESPN 100)
• Drew Eubanks (#138 Rivals 150) 
• Derrick Bruce 
• Noah Togiai 
• Gligorije Rakocevic

In 1990, The Pac-12 Player of the Year was a stifling defensive-minded guard named Gary Payton. He led the Beavers to the NCAA Tournament and created levels of interest in the program that had never been matched before. Oddly enough, 25 years later, Gary Payton II arrived in Corvallis with intentions of making a similar impact.

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New head coach Wayne Tinkle welcomed the second generation Payton as a part of his first recruiting class with Oregon State, and Payton II blossomed just as many expected. The Son of Glove caused nightmares for opposing offenses, coining the nickname “The Thief” while pillaging through the Pac-12 in his first division one season (he previously played two years of junior college ball). His play led the Beavers to an inspired run through the schedule that even saw the team flirt with NCAA Tournament consideration.

With a star player in tow, the Beavers have legit expectations for next year. Once again, Tinkle will rely on another second generation player to anchor another important recruiting class. This time, it happens to be Tinkle’s son, Tres. When Wayne was coaching at Montana, Tres wasn’t so sure about passing up Pac-12 offers in order to play for dad. However, once his father became the head man at Oregon State, the decision became obvious for the lanky 6’7 forward.

Wayne may not have had to recruit his son very hard, but he did do a bit of damage in the top 100 outside of landing his son. Landing Stephen Thompson was Tinkle’s biggest achievement of the period, an addition that will offer the Beavers a solid scoring option in the backcourt and free up Payton II on the offensive end.

The most intriguing prospect of the bunch is Noah Togiai, who will not only play basketball at Oregon State, but will also play tight end for the Beaver football team. That should be an indication of what the 6’5 forward will bring to the basketball court. He is known to attack the basket ferociously, and can even knock down a jumper if forgotten about. Considering he will be putting on a good deal of football related muscle before he suits up as a basketball player, Coach Tinkle probably doesn’t know exactly what he’s getting. That may be something he’s excited about.

Drew Eubanks, is a high three-star recruit or a low four-star recruit depending on the publication, but regardless of stars and rankings, it’s clear that Eubanks will be able to play at a high level from day one. That means the Beavers will get a much needed dose of frontcourt depth. It’s also possible that Coach Tinkle could turn to Eubanks as a starter as he continues to build the program for the future.

The team returns all of its contributing players, so where Eubanks will fit in remains to be seen, but he will definitely have a prominent spot in the rotation. The same can be said for Derrick Bruce, a post grad point guard from Florida who spent time as a ranked prospect in the Rivals 150. Bruce may contend for a starting spot, but will likely settle in as a key contributor off the bench. Gligorije Rakocevic could be a possible candidate to redshirt. He doesn’t project to have any discernible talent at the moment, but he’s huge, and huge is usually good for something. The fact that the Beavers have these options after a year where they relied so heavily on seven players is a sign of Tinkle’s dedication.