8 potential candidates to replace Wayne Tinkle at Oregon State

We’re nearing the very end of the regular season but that hasn’t stopped Oregon State in announcing an upcoming change for their basketball program. Wayne Tinkle will be relieved of his duties following 12 seasons in Corvallis leading the Beavers program. He is expected to coach through the remainder of this season, with a national search to begin immediately.

Tinkle played center at Montana in the late 80’s before a long playing career, with much of that experience overseas over the next decade. He was back in the states to begin his coaching career, joining his alma mater’s coaching staff in 2001. After five years as an assistant, Tinkle became Montana’s head coach and over the next 8 years took the Grizzlies to three NCAA Tournaments and a pair of Big Sky regular season titles.

In 2014, Tinkle was hired by Oregon State as their next head coach, beginning what would be a 12-year tenure full of ups and downs. In just his second season, he broke a near three-decade long NCAA Tournament drought. Five years later, Tinkle took the Beavers to a surprise run to the Elite Eight in 2021. Unfortunately, the Beavers finished under .500 each of the next three seasons and just haven’t caught on during their two-year sabbatical in the WCC.

The Beavers return to the new Pac-12 next season and will do so with a new head coach building this roster and calling the shots. Oregon State doesn’t exactly have the greatest NIL investment or basketball history, but they should still be able to find a few attractive names for this role. We’re going to run through just a few we think the Beavers should consider in the weeks ahead.

R-Jay Barsh

Albeit a former NAIA head coach, Barsh is the lone name on our list who isn’t a current D1 head coach but he certainly comes highly recommended. He’s had great success as an assistant at Boise State, Florida State, and most recently with Gonzaga and seems ready for his shot running his own program. Whether or not the Beavers want to hire someone with less head coaching experience, Barsh is the kind of guy who can bring talent to Corvallis like he’s done at his D1 stops.

Jerrod Calhoun

Thanks to fantastic recent work from Utah State, Calhoun is a name on the rise who likely gets mentioned for most openings until he takes the next step. He worked under Bob Huggins at West Virginia and had great success leading both Fairmont State at D2 and Youngstown State in the Horizon League. Calhoun took Utah State dancing last season and should do so again this year, but it’s a wonder if Oregon State is the right job for the Ohio native.

Jase Coburn

Certainly familiar with coaching and recruiting in the state of Oregon, Coburn has spent the last thirteen years at Portland State and has been the Vikings’ head coach since 2021. He had previously coached high school ball in Texas and graduated from a Pac-12 school in Arizona State. Coburn has led a turnaround for the Vikings and is on track for a Big Sky title this season. It’s certainly a jump but the 42-year old seems ready for the next challenge after his long stint in Portland.

Travis DeCuire

A Seattle native who previously coached in the Pac-12, DeCuire actually succeeded Tinkle at Montana twelve seasons ago. After decent work on staff at California, DeCuire headed back to his alma mater and has taken the Grizzlies to three NCAA Tournaments, including a trip last season. While it would be an odd move succeeding Tinkle once again, he’s a very solid option who’s done great work in the northwest during his career.

Kahil Fennell

Seen by some as a rising name in coaching circles, Fennell has previous experience in the state as an assistant at Portland. He had stints on staff at Louisville with Chris Mack and BYU with Mark Pope and has been the head coach at UTRGV for the last two seasons. Year two with the Vaqueros is going pretty well, sitting tied for 3rd in the Southland standings, and Fennell could be ready for the next big challenge in his coaching career. That recent experience on power conference staffs certainly doesn’t hurt.

Andy Newman

An experience head coach and someone known for rebuilding programs, Newman hasn’t worked at the power conference level but could be a breath of fresh air for Oregon State. He had five-year stints building D2 success at both UT Permian Basin and Cal State San Bernardino, taking the latter to the D2 Final Four in 2023. Shortly thereafter, he landed at Cal State Northridge and has turned the Matadors back into a Big West contender. Could a jump to the new Pac-12 be in his future?

Joe Pasternack

A former student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana, Pasternack spent a decade on Pac-12 staffs at California and Arizona. Between those stints, he had a mediocre run as head coach at New Orleans before achieving recent success leading UC Santa Barbara. He became head coach of the Gauchos in 2017 and has been to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, winning 67% of his games at UCSB. After great work in the Big Sky, he could be a sneaky good hire to turn things around in the Pac-12.

Chris Victor

The work from Victor has been impressive in his young head coaching career. After solid work helming Citrus College at the JUCO level, Victor eventually landed in Seattle, became interim head coach in 2021, and remains the leader of the Pioneers. He’s taken Seattle to a WAC title, a CBI championship, and a ton of wins in five seasons, even engineering a successful transition into the WCC this season and a recent victory over Oregon State. He doesn’t have a ton of major experience but he’s been a winner.