Oregon State Basketball: Beavers take massive hit with Warith Alatishe departure

Warith Alatishe played a starring role in Oregon State Basketball’s recent success in March. Now the Beavers will have to rebuild without him.

It feels like ages ago since Oregon State Basketball was viewed in a positive light. But it was just 2021 when the Beavers went from no postseason hopes to not only winning the Pac-12 Tournament and getting the autobid, but also then making it to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed.

While Ethan Thompson was the clear best player for the team that season, the MVP of the conference tournament and overall run was Warith Alatishe, a 6’9 power forward that was in his first year with Oregon State after transferring from Nicholls. State. He was solid overall as a starter, averaging just under double figures while leading the team in rebounding.

But he put up his best numbers in March, including a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime upset over UCLA, followed up with a double-double in the win over Oregon. And while he didn’t score much in the NCAA Tournament, Alatishe averaged double figures on the boards and played a key role in the Elite 8 run.

Last season was historically awful for Oregon State, finishing 3-28 overall and just 1-19 in Pac-12 play. Alatishe had a good start individually, with a pair of 20+ point games in the first four games and five more of 15+ points in the first half of the season. But things went south for him in the second half and he eventually came off the bench in the last seven games. He averaged 9.0 ppg and 5.1 rpg overall and with both Jarod Lucas and Dashawn Davis gone, was the best-returning player on the roster for this season.

However, plans have clearly changed.

After four seasons in NCAA Basketball, Alatishe had the option of taking a 5th year given by the NCAA due to the pandemic. But him making it official that he isn’t coming back so late in the offseason is devastating for a program that has no way of replacing him. Alatishe isn’t an all-conference player but he was a proven producer on a roster that doesn’t have much of that.

The frontcourt options to replace him includes returning centers, Chol Marial and Rodrigue Andela, as well as a pair of incoming freshman forwards in Tyler Bilodeau and Michael Rataj. The key will be Dzmitry Ryuny, a 6’9 senior transfer from San Francisco. He only played under 10 mpg last season as he was buried on the bench but as a starter in the year prior, produced 9.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg in 27 mpg.

Oregon State will need that version of Ryuny to show up and lead the frontcourt this season, as well as another big or two to play well. And that doesn’t even include the task that the new guards have to score as well. In what was already a daunting task to improve this season for the Beavers, it’s gotten much harder, now that Alatishe isn’t around anymore.